FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - A setback in the planned sale of the Food Panda business in Taiwan caused Delivery Hero shares to plummet on Friday. On trading platform Tradegate, the shares of the food delivery company slumped by a good 12 percent to 25.12 euros compared to the Xetra closing price on Monday. This is the lowest level for the main business since the end of August.

The Taiwanese competition authority TFTC will not approve the sale of the Food Panda activities to the US ride and delivery service Uber, Delivery Hero announced. Uber wanted to acquire the business in a multi-stage deal for just under one billion US dollars and buy a small stake in Delivery Hero. Uber can appeal against the TFTC's decision or terminate the transaction, the MDax company's press release continued.

Analyst Marcus Diebel from the bank JPMorgan saw the decision as clearly negative for Delivery Hero. The company had wanted to use the money from the sale to buy back convertible bonds and improve its capital structure overall. Meanwhile, the amount of a possible compensation payment (break-up fee) to Delivery Hero remains open. For the company, there are also opportunities for other sales in the region, which could then act as a positive catalyst for the share price, the expert emphasized./edh/mis