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The ministry had said last month the transaction might be
blocked if Uber and Grab's combined market share in Vietnam is
over 50 percent, as per the nation's law.
"Preliminary investigation results showed the economic
concentration between Grab and Uber in the Vietnam market has a
combined market share of over 50 percent," the ministry said in
an statement on its website.
It said after working with the firms, associations and related
government authorities, it has found the deal showed "signs of
violations on economic concentration". The ministry did not say
by when it will decide whether to launch a formal probe or not.
Uber [UBER.UL] and Grab announced a deal in March under which
Uber will take a 27.5 percent stake in Grab in exchange for its
Southeast Asian business. The U.S. company had previously sold
operations in China and Russia to local rivals.
Vietnam's move expands scrutiny on the deal, which is already
being examined for antitrust issues by Singapore, Malaysia and
the Philippines.
It is unclear how the deal will be impacted if Vietnam or any of
the other countries ultimately conclude the deal hurts
competition.
But while rising regulatory scrutiny could complicate the
takeover, lawyers and analysts said there is little the
authorities can do to stop Uber from simply exiting the region.
Uber and Grab did not immediately respond to Reuters requests
for comments.
(Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Additional reporting by James Pearson;
Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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