Uber is on the verge of surrendering its business in South-East Asia to local champion Grab. According to the Financial Times, the two ride hailing apps are close to signing a deal that would result in the US-based company pulling back in ASEAN in exchange for a substantial stake in Grab. A stake of over 20% has been mentioned.
The FT report says that the move has been under discussion for months and comes just weeks after Japanese technology super investor SoftBank, which is Uber’s biggest investor and 30% shareholder of Grab, urged Uber to focus on core markets. This development mirrors the deal Uber struck with Chinese rival Didi Chuxing in 2016. Then, Uber quit China and received a 20% stake in its rival in return.
According to FT, new Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has been working to clean up the company’s image and show that the Uber has a path to profitability. Expending energy and funds in faraway markets with strong local rivals won’t help the latter.
It’s pretty clear who’s pulling the strings on this one. Last year, SoftBank and Didi were part of a group that put US$2.5 billion (RM9.77 billion) into Grab in a funding round that valued the Singapore-based company at US$6 billion (RM23.45 billion). In December, the cash-rich Japanese firm was among the companies that invested US$4 billion (RM15.64 billion) in Didi, a week before it bought more than 17% of Uber for about US$9 billion (RM35.18 billion).
SoftBank’s has hinted at its vision for Uber previously. Rajeev Misra, a board director of SoftBank, told FT earlier this year that the company should reduce losses in non-core territories and concentrate on growth in the US and Europe, Latin America and Australia.
The Uber-Grab deal is expected to be finalised later this month. Once done, focus will shift to Uber’s position in India, where it is locked in battle with Ola, which is also backed by puppet master SoftBank.
Soon, there won’t be any need for Malaysian consumers to open two apps to compare prices, as the local ride-hailing game will be monopolised by Grab. There would be less incentive for a sole player to offer promotions too, one would think.
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whoa! If Grab is the sole e-hailing ride provider, riders will see the fare increase and for the drivers, there will be an increase in commission and decrease in incentives.
In the end, taxi guys that held on to their license and profession will win the game.
there are other ride-sharing services but they are less well known as compare to uber n grab in bolehland
The bigger problem now is the ex-taxi drivers migrating to ride-hailing companies and bringing along their bad attitudes.
Are they playing monopoly games?
Monopoly never going to be good for consumer. And the drivers too. No more promotion to attract users and the drivers.
Say NO to monopoly once and for all!!
The end result is both customers and drivers losing out in comparable price, ride quality and incentives for drivers. I always take Uber more often than Grab due to the promotions Uber gave to us (customers) and the overall ride app in Uber. Monopoly market = More expensive rides, less incentives to drivers, less quality rides.
Grab is already charging higher fare than Uber, it will be higher fare in the future after the take over,
hopefully it won’t become local taxi 2.0
I hope to have more options as a consumer as well as healthy competition.
Something must be wrong with Uber. They need China to come and save them now b4 GRAB eats their other markets.
Less 1 big competition. Will Grab pricing remains competitive? If things do not turn up well due to monopoly, at the end, consumer would go back to the preference of owning a car than going for e-hailing.
Ride-hailing (or whatever you want to call it) is now essential to all consumers. Just as how trains, buses are essential to a functioning public transport system. The MY competition commission needs to look into this. Nevertheless its an embarassment – a complete embarassment – and a reflection of Uber management ego and incompetence that they ended up losing to an inferior competitor like Grab. Both have their cons, but Grab was always much more flexible in its promotions and adaptations to Malaysian wants.
basically the customer support at grab were nearly non-exist. report of a driver but end up, no actions no sound from them afterwards. nearly made a police report but end up, waste of time.
There are always 2sides to a coin. Grab has patiently giving out very competitive fares to say the least. It is time they up a little to be closer to taxis since uber is out of the picture.we can come to conclusion amicably without bullying by taxis improper behaviour should they adopt grab as their alternative,thereby being monitored with respect with conduct n courtesy.