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Uber reportedly ready to sell Southeast Asia business to Grab
There have been conflicting rumours for several weeks now about the future for Uber in many parts of Asia.
It now looks like the ride sharing giant could be making a retreat out of Southeast Asia.
CNBC reports Uber is planning a sell off to Singapore based Grab in exchange for a stake.
That would follow a similar path to Uber’s pull-out of China when it sold up to dominant player Didi Chuxing for a 20% shareholding.
Grab has a similar dominant market share in the ASEAN bloc, with a presence in more than 100 Southeast Asian cities.
Grab operates private car, motorbike, taxi and carpooling services.
According to sources no deal has yet been reached.
Uber’s heavy investing in emerging markets is not sustainable long term and has contributed to a loss of $4.5 billion, according to recent figures.
This deal would help rein in some costs as it plans to go public as early as next year.
"The amount we’re investing in developing markets is a significant negative but that’s an optional investment," Uber CEO Dara Kosrowshahi said recently.
It makes sense in that the ride sharing landscape in Asia has become rather convoluted.
New major Uber shareholder Softbank, which recently bought a 15% stake, also owns significant stakes in Grab, Didi Chuxing and India’s Ola.
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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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