GRAB GAINS FRESH US$1.5B FUNDING
Company to use majority of proceeds to grow Indonesian ops
SOUTHEAST Asian ridehailing firm Grab said yesterday it had secured US$1.5 billion (RM6.14 billion) in fresh financing from a fund run by Japan’s SoftBank and will use a significant portion of it to expand in Indonesia.
Grab has seen its business grow rapidly since it bought United States-based rival Uber’s regional ride-hailing and food business in March last year. Uber received a 27.5 per cent stake in Grab in return.
The fresh investment from the Vision Fund of Softbank Group brings the total financing secured by Grab over the past year to more than US$4.5 billion.
The company said it was expanding its financial services and food and parcel delivery businesses, as well as adding new offerings such as on-demand video, digital healthcare, insurance and hotel bookings.
Singapore-headquartered Grab said a “significant portion” of the new investment would be used to grow its business in Indonesia, the home base of rival Go-Jek, which had recently launched in the island republic.
“Grab’s Indonesian business is expanding rapidly, with revenue more than doubling in 2018,” said the company in a statement.
Toyota Motor, Hyundai Motor, Oppenheimer Funds and Microsoft Corp are among the key investors in Grab over the past year. Softbank is owned by Japan’s richest man Masayoshi Son.
Go-Jek has won financial backing from investors, including Google, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek and Chinese Internet giant Tencent.
The region’s ride-hailing market is set to be worth US$20 billion by 2025, according to research by Google and Temasek.