It's Official, Grab Confirms the Acquisition of Uber's SEA Business

Grab and Uber officially announce a business merger in Southeast Asia. With this announcement, Uber will take 27,5 percent stake in Grab and Uber's CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, will join Grab's board. The merger will be Grab's new ammo to compete against Go-Jek in SEA market. Grab will be focused in O2O (online-to-offline) platform, fintech (payment and financial inclusion) platform, and to develop a leading food delivery services in the region.

Bloomberg reported just yesterday that Grab confirmed to acquire Uber business after rumors since last November. Both Grab and Uber are having Japan's Softbank as lead investor.

Grab's Group CEO and Co-Founder Anthony Tan said in the release:

"We are proud that the company founded in Southeast Asia has grown as the largest platform in which our services have become inseparable from daily activities of million consumers and provided employment opportunities for over 5 million people. Today's announcement becomes a milestone of the new era. The merger will deliver new leaders in platform and cost efficiency in Southeast Asia. Along with Uber, we are now in a strategic position to realize our commitment in providing the best service for consumers. Consumer's trust upon our brand transportation is driving us to move forward as a company: improving people's lives through food delivery, payment, and financial services."

Post-merger, Grab will expand GrabFood business across major Southeast Asia countries, including the acquisition of UberEats in the first half of 2018. For transportation, Grab is said to collaborate with government and public transportation to develop an integrated commuter system. Two examples including GrabCycle (bicycle) system and GrabShuttlePlus (on-demand bus) in Singapore.

Later, Grab will improve services in Grab Financial related to mobile payment, microfinancing, insurance and other banking services, micro-entrepreneur, and SMEs in Southeast Asia. GrabPay's role as e-wallet will be available in all major countries of Southeast Asia by the end of 2018.

Uber services in Southeast Asia is said to be available in the next two weeks, while UberEats (focused on food delivery), will be available until May 2018. Both companies will collaborate to facilitate the transition of driver-partner, customers, and merchant.

In Indonesia, Uber has partnered up with Tokopedia and BBM. It has also launched UberDelivery for package delivery.

According to an official release, some employees in Southeast Asia offices will be transferred to Grab.

– Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian