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Uber offloads Southeast Asia operations to rival Grab
Uber is bailing out of another major market in Asia.
It is handing over its entire Southeast Asia operations to the dominant player in the ASEAN region Grab effective from April 9.
Grab will take over Uber’s operations and assets in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam in exchange for a 27.5% stake in Grab.
That shareholding gives Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi a seat on Grab’s board.
The exact value of the transaction was not disclosed.
"The acquisition marks the beginning of a new era. The combined business is the leader in platform and cost efficiency in the region. Together with Uber, we are now in an even better position to fulfil our promise to outserve our customers," said Anthony Tan, group CEO and co-founder of Grab.
Grab will also take over the UberEats regional business which will be integrated into its own GrabFood food delivery operation.
The Uber app will continue for the next two weeks while current Uber drivers are integrated into Singapore based Grab’s network.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi acknowledged the company has had fingers in too many pies.
"It is fair to ask whether consolidation is now the strategy of the day, given this is the third deal of its kind, from China to Russia and now Southeast Asia. The answer is no. One of the potential dangers of our global strategy is that we take on too many battles across too many fronts and with too many competitors."
"This transaction now puts us in a position to compete with real focus and weight in the core markets where we operate, while giving us valuable and growing equity stakes in a number of big and important markets where we don’t," Khosrowshahi said.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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