The UK’s competition watchdog has told Amazon to halt any integration with Deliveroo while it weighs up whether to launch an investigation into any potential breaches of competition rules.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued an initial enforcement order to the e-commerce giant and the app-based food delivery business after Amazon became lead investor in a £457 million funding round for Deliveroo that valued the company at more than £4 billion.

The order is preliminary to a decision being made on whether to launch an inquiry.

Amazon’s investment constitutes a minority holding in Roofoods, which trades as Deliveroo.

The initial enforcement order stated that the CMA had “reasonable grounds” for suspecting that Amazon and Deliveroo may have “ceased to be distinct”, which would potentially break competition rules around mergers.

The CMA has not yet decided whether a merger inquiry will be necessary, and has given no date for a final decision on whether it will proceed with one.

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