Uber exits SE Asia in latest retreat
Ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc has agreed to sell its Southeast Asian business to bigger regional rival Grab, the firms said on Monday, marking the US company’s second retreat from an Asian market. The industry’s first big consolidation in Southeast Asia, home to about 640 million people, puts pressure on Indonesia's Go-Jek, which is backed by Alphabet Inc's Google and China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd.
A shake-up in Asia's fiercely competitive ride-hailing industry became likely earlier this year when Japan-based SoftBank Group Corp's Vision Fund made a multi-billion dollar investment in Uber.
“It was really a very independent decision by both companies,” Grab President Ming Maa said, adding that SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son was “highly supportive”.
Uber will take a 27.5 per cent stake in Singapore-based Grab and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab's board. Grab was last valued at an estimated $6 billion.
“It will help us double down on our plans for growth as we invest heavily in our products and technology,” Khosrowshahi said in a statement.
The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) said it has the mandate to review whether any mergers will result in a “substantial lessening of competition” and to take action. “For example, CCS can require the merger to be unwound or modified to prevent the substantial lessening of competition,” the agency said in a statement.