After months of speculation and rumours, it is now official: Grab acquires Uber in Southeast Asia. This will be the biggest deal of its kind in Southeast Asia and will see Grab integrating with Uber’s ride-sharing and food delivery business. Uber will now be a part of Grab’s multi-modal transportation and fintech platform.
Through the deal, Uber will take a 27.5% stake in Grab’s shareholdings while its CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi will be part of Grab’s board of directors. The deal will also see Grab taking over Uber in major SEA countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
As Grab acquires Uber, it is looking to expand its business across Southeast Asia in various ways, ensuring it will become the number one online-to-offline (O2O) mobile platform. One way is building on its transportation services, providing more public transport services to create a more seamless and integrated multi-modal commuter experience. With GrabCycle recently announced in Singapore, Grab will be looking to build on its introduction for shared bicycles and personal mobility vehicles.
The food delivery business is also another area Grab is looking to explore. Through its own GrabFood business, which is already in Indonesia and Thailand, Grab will be introducing GrabFood to Malaysia and Singapore with the help of Uber Eats. It is speculated that GrabFood will be available across all major Southeast Asian countries by the first half of 2018.
Fintech is also another area Grab is looking to build on through Grab Financial, which will see new offerings come to light such as mobile payments, micro-financing, insurance and other financial services. GrabPay will also be made available across all major Southeast Asian countries by the end of 2018.
If you are a new Uber user, fret not as you will be able to enjoy the benefits from GrabRewards while driver-partners will benefit from its Better365 and GrabAll-Stars features.
As of right now, Grab and Uber are working to merge Uber’s entire list of riders and drivers, Uber Eats customers, merchant partners and delivery partners into Grab’s platform by 8 April 2018. If you are still confused about the merger, Grab has also prepared a few answers for both passengers as well as driver-partners here.
To read more about the merger, you can head on over to Grab Malaysia’s website. You can also read what Sean Goh, Grab Malaysia Country Head has to say about the merger.
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