Grab acquires Uber's Southeast Asia operations
Grab has acquired Uber’s Southeast Asia operations. According to an announcement, in exchange, Uber will take a 27.5% stake in Grab and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab’s board. Moreover, Grab is now backed by DiDi Chuxing and Uber, in addition to leading global investor SoftBank.
Grab will integrate Uber’s ridesharing and food delivery business in the region into Grab’s existing multi-modal transportation and fintech platform. It will also take over Uber’s operations and assets in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
For its food delivery services, Grab will rapidly expand its existing GrabFood businesses in Indonesia and Thailand to two more countries - Singapore and Malaysia - following the integration of the Uber Eats business. “GrabFood will be available across all major Southeast Asian countries in the first half of 2018,” the firm said.
Meanwhile, Uber Eats will run until the end of May, after which Uber delivery and restaurant partners will move to the GrabFood platform.
«Grab will also collaborate with governments and public transport operators to link public transport services and create seamless and integrated multi-modal commuter experiences. The recently announced GrabCycle marketplace for shared bicycles and personal mobility devices, and GrabShuttle Plus for on-demand bus routes are pilots toward this vision».
Grab Financial will expand its offerings including mobile payments, micro-financing, insurance and other financial services for millions of underserved and unbanked consumers, micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses in the region. GrabPay as a mobile wallet will be available across all major Southeast Asian countries by the end of the year.
Grab will promptly migrate Uber drivers and riders, Uber Eats customers, merchant partners and delivery partners to the Grab platform. The Uber app will continue to operate for two weeks to ensure stability for Uber drivers, who can find out how to sign-up to drive with Grab online.
Grab is a technology company that offers logistics and food delivery and other services through its apps in 7 countries and 142 cities of Southeast Asia. Grab’s current market share is 95% in third-party taxi-hailing and 72% in private vehicle hailing and it has the largest land fleet in Southeast Asia.
Further information at the Singapore Business Review web-site