Tsar & Tsai Law Firm has successfully represented the Uni-President Group in its merger filing with the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) for the acquisition of Yahoo Taiwan's e-commerce business. On July 17th, the TFTC granted its clearance of this merger without any conditions. Uni-President Group announced that it has completed the joint venture regarding Yahoo Taiwan’s e-commerce business on September 19.

According to the TFTC’s  resolution no. 1709 on July 17, 2024 and the TFTC’s news release, the TFTC holds the view that physical retail channels and online shopping are not fully interchangeable and belong to different product markets. Furthermore, physical retail groups are actively developing membership economies and payment systems, allowing consumers to become members, use various payment tools, and accumulate reward points. This fosters competitive pressure among different retail groups.

Based on the above reasons and other considerations, the TFTC cleared the merger in accordance with Article 13, Paragraph 1 of the Taiwan Fair Trade Act without imposing any conditions, which is rare for merger cases involving the retail industry in recent years.

(Matt Liu / Yichu Chen / Ray Lin)