Grab acquires Uber’s service offerings in Southeast Asia

Grab has recently announced the acquisition of Uber’s Southeast Asia operations, the largest-ever deal of its kind in Southeast Asia.

Grab will integrate Uber’s ride-sharing into their existing multi-modal transportation and fintech platform. With the combined business, Grab will be able to drive towards becoming a key online-to-offline (O2O) mobile platform in Southeast Asia.

Anthony Tan, Group CEO and co-Founder of Grab, said: “The acquisition marks the beginning of a new era. Together with Uber, we are in an even better position to fulfil our promise to out serve our customers. Their trust in us as a transport brand allows us to look towards the next step as a company.”

Grab will extend its leadership as it takes over Uber’s operations and assets in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. As part of the acquisition, Uber will take a 27.5 per cent stake in Grab and Uber’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, will join the board.

Grab plans to grow its core transport offering to include more localised transport services and new mobility solutions, in partnership with other transport providers and automakers. They will also collaborate with governments and public transport operators to link public transport services; creating 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.

GrabFood, a food delivery business, and GrabPay, a financial offering, are two other services that the company hope to expand throughout all major Southeast Asian countries.

To minimise disruption, Grab is committed to cooperating with local regulators in relation to the acquisition and alongside Uber they are working to promptly migrate Uber drivers, riders, customers and merchant partners to the platform.