Report has come in that Uber could be selling off its business in Southeast Asia to Grab, the leading ride hailing provider in the region with a massive market share compared to the former. CNBC received news from sources that the deal could be in place to enable Uber to speed up its initial public offering (IPO) plans which the new CEO has been gearing up since coming on board.

Despite kick starting the ride sharing phenomena, the California based app developer has gone through a host of troubles to the extent of removing the founder from its board. The latest development will also see the company upon handing over the business to Grab and would take a substantial stake on the Malaysian owners company. Under the ownership it will continue to expand its other services in the region albeit in a different name. The idea of selling is not new to Uber as the company did similar business tie up in China, when it could not make any headway in the market only to sell the operation to Didi, a staunch competitor.

Grab is in the midst of raising an US$2.5 billion funding itself, which it plans to use to open new markets in the 600 million populated region. With Uber, the technology advantage will be with Grab and newer startups like Gojet from Jakarta will have a tougher time competing with Grab. It is worth noting, that both Uber and Grab have common investor in Softbank who have more to gain if the deal goes through.  While the rumour could have some truth in it, there is no official statements by any of the party so far.