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Grab merges with Uber in Southeast Asia

By Ng Chong Seng - on 26 Mar 2018, 11:42am

Grab merges with Uber in Southeast Asia

(Image source: Grab.)

True to reports, Grab has today officially announced that it’s acquired Uber’s ridesharing and food delivery operations in Southeast Asia. To be more specific, Grab is taking 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% stake in Grab and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab’s board.

Termed as the largest acquisition by a Southeast Asia internet company, Grab says the combined business will help drive its goal in becoming the number one O2O (online-to-offline) mobile platform in this region and a major player in food delivery. As an example, the acquiring of the Uber Eats business means that Grab’s GrabFood (now in Indonesia and Thailand) will come to Singapore and Malaysia very soon.

In the area of transportation, Grab will be working with other transport providers and automakers to grow its core transport offering to include more localized transport services and new mobility solutions. Grab will also collaborate with governments and public transport operators to link public transport services and create “integrated multi-modal commuter experiences”. Grab cites the recently announced GrabCycle marketplace for shared bicycles and personal mobility devices, and GrabShuttle Plus for on-demand bus routes as pilots toward this vision.

Last but not least, Grab says it will continue to enhance and expand its suite of offerings under Grab Financial, 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. By end 2018, GrabPay as a mobile wallet will be available across all major Southeast Asian countries.

To minimize disruption, Grab and Uber are now working to 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. Uber Eats will run until the end of May, after which Uber delivery and restaurant partners will move to the GrabFood platform.

Source: Grab.

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