Grab Close to Deal for Uber’s Southeast Asia Business

[cyclone]

Grab Close to Deal for Uber’s Southeast Asia Business

By Yoolim Lee  and Eric Newcomer
March 8, 2018, 12:56 PM GMT+8

Grab, the dominant ride-hailing service in Southeast Asia, is close to finalizing a deal to acquire Uber Technologies Inc.’s business in the region and may sign a deal this week or next, according to people familiar with the matter.

Under terms of the proposed agreement, Grab would buy out Uber’s operations in certain markets in Southeast Asia and Uber will take a stake in Grab, the people said, asking not to be named because the talks are private. The structure would be similar to the deal Uber struck with Didi Chuxing in China in 2016, when the San Francisco-based company sold its local operation in exchange for equity in the company. Under a scenario being considered, Uber’s stake in Grab is likely to be in the high teens or 20 percent, said one of the people.

Grab has separately been in discussions with existing backers, including SoftBank Group Corp., and new investors for additional capital, according to people familiar with the talks. Grab was most recently valued at $6 billion, according to CB Insights. The current talks may still fall apart or the terms and timing may change.

More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...a-business

[weijian]

Would Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) allow Uber and Grab to merge?

The on-going ComfortDelgro-Uber tie-up did not pass Phase1 review by CCS and is now in Stage 2. It is still 50%-50% i reckon but with the concerns raised by CCS because ComfortDelgro and Uber (2 of the "biggest players") are merging their booking apps and fleet, what goes for Uber-Grab to merge in Singapore?

https://www.ccs.gov.sg/media-and-publica...cquisition

[Contrarian]

1. Government going to license Uber and Grab soon

2. Uber in talks to sell to Grab

With 1 less player... will there be cheap fares ? I doubt so...