In a deal that is regarded as the biggest in  Southeast Asia, Grab has announced that it will taking over the entire operation of Uber and Uber Eats in the region, which spans across Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines and Cambodia. The acquisition was first highlighted back in February when an international news site flagged a deal was in the horizon with common investor Softbank having a part in the decision making.

With the integration Uber will relinquish the brand identity in the region and instead take a 25.7% stake in the larger Grab entity paving the way for the latter to become a dominant ride hailing player in Southeast Asia. Coincidentally Uber puled out of China in similar fashion when it gave in to Didi a Chinese based ride hailing service which is also an investor in Grab. As part of the acquisition, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab’s board, however no announcement has been made on the existing employees and operation centres.

However, drivers and users have been notified on the hand-over and will have to move over to Grab and resume their services within 2 weeks. Uber Eats will run until the end of May, after which Uber delivery and restaurant partners will move to the GrabFood platform.

But the question also beckons if this will create a monopoly in countries where there’s no competition? Currently riders can compare prices for rides and pick the ones that give them the best deal, this lead to both providers competing with each other to give offers that would lure customers from each other. A healthy scenario if you’re using the service but not so for the ride hailing company and their investors, could this be the reason for the merger? Is Softbank protecting its investment?

While we will have to see how the new enlarged Grab operates, it is suffice to say the removal of Uber will accelerate its growth in all areas it operates. The app has already been downloaded on over 90 million devices with 5 million people use the combined platform daily and these numbers are now going to double within months. A monopolistic environment does not go well for consumers as we’ve seen similar services start lording over its customers, another downside is will Grab lose its innovative edge with no credible ride hailing competitor to compete with.

And another thing about monopoly, we already see how two large Silicon Valley tech company one in search and the other in social have become once they start to take their users for granted and only look to appease their investors.