Grab says it's not in talks to buy Gojek parent GoTo ‘at this time'
Grab, the largest of South-east Asia's ride-hailing and delivery firms, has been locked in fierce competition with GoTo for almost a decade. PHOTO: ST FILE
Grab says it's not in talks to buy Gojek parent GoTo 'at this time'
SINGAPORE – Grab Holdings said it isn't in talks to acquire Gojek parent GoTo Group 'at this time,' signalling it's halting or at least pausing a planned US$7 billion (S$9 billion) acquisition of its South-east Asia internet peer.
'The parties are not involved in any discussions at this time and Grab has not entered into any definitive agreements,' Grab said in a statement on June 9. 'Indonesia continues to be an important country in serving our mission as we continue to outserve our Indonesian customers, driver- and merchant-partners.'
Singapore's Grab and Indonesia's GoTo had made headway on a potential deal structure, but the pace of talks had slowed recently over concerns about potential regulatory demands, Bloomberg News reported previously. Indonesia's antitrust agency said in May it would look into potential risks and urged the companies to ensure any deal won't create a monopoly.
Shares of Grab dropped 3.9 per cent to US$4.98 in US trading on June 9. The stock has advanced 41 per cent in the past 12 months as Grab's profitability improved, but remains down more than 50 per cent since its listing in New York through a merger with a blank-cheque firm in late 2021.
Grab, which is backed by Uber Technologies, has held on-and-off talks with GoTo for years. But a merger never materialized, partly because of antitrust concerns likely to arise from combining South-east Asia's two dominant ride-hailing and food-delivery companies. Uber left the region in 2018 in exchange for a stake in Grab, and smaller competitors haven't eaten significantly into Grab and GoTo's market share in Indonesia and Singapore.
Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund Danantara has been considering a role in the combination, possibly helping to assuage concerns in the government resulting from the sale of the national tech champion, Bloomberg News reported last week.
A potential sale of GoTo has sparked worries among Indonesia's political leadership about the loss of independence and developer and engineer jobs. Some have also expressed concerns that ride-hailing and food-delivery prices would rise if Grab becomes dominant in a tough economy where consumers are already facing hardship.
Grab, the largest of South-east Asia's ride-hailing and delivery firms, has been locked in fierce competition with GoTo for almost a decade. The Singapore-based company is the leading provider in its home market and countries including Malaysia and Thailand.
While the companies' rivalry has weighed on their efforts to reach consistent profitability, they have benefited from user growth in the emerging economies they operate in. On-demand transactions – including meal delivery – grew 19 per cent in the two-month period covering April and May, versus a year earlier, Grab said in a separate release on June 19.
GoTo has pulled out from countries including Thailand and Vietnam after a fierce cost-cutting drive, but remains a formidable player in Indonesia – the region's biggest market. Acquiring GoTo would give Grab a stronger position in the country of more than 275 million.
'We will continue to maintain a high hurdle rate when deploying our capital, and will have a balanced approach to investing for organic, profitable growth, and be highly selective on inorganic opportunities, in line with our capital allocation framework,' Grab said in its statement. BLOOMBERG
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - Stock take today: US-China trade talks, Japan inflation picking up
CNA938 Rewind On the daily markets analysis on Open For Business, Andrea Heng and Hairianto Diman speak with James Soutar, Partner at PACAT Capital Management.
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
Iran to present counter-proposal to US, Trump says talks to resume
WASHINGTON: Iran said on Monday (Jun 9) it will soon hand a counter-proposal for a nuclear deal to the United States in response to a US offer that Tehran deems "unacceptable", while US President Donald Trump said talks would continue. Trump made clear that the two sides remained at odds over whether the country would be allowed to continue enriching uranium on Iranian soil. "They're just asking for things that you can't do. They don't want to give up what they have to give up," Trump told reporters at the White House. "They seek enrichment. We can't have enrichment." Earlier, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was preparing a counter-offer to the US proposal that was presented in late May. He said there was no detail about the timing of a sixth round of talks. While Trump said the next round of talks would take place on Thursday, a senior Iranian official and a US official said Thursday was unlikely. Following Trump's remarks, Baghaei said "based on recent consultations, the next round of Iran–US indirect negotiations is being planned for next Sunday in Muscat", according to the ministry's Telegram channel. The US official said the talks, led by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, could be on Friday or Sunday, possibly in Oman or Oslo. "The US proposal is not acceptable to us. It was not the result of previous rounds of negotiations. We will present our own proposal to the other side via Oman after it is finalised. This proposal is reasonable, logical, and balanced," Baghaei said. "We must ensure before the lifting of sanctions that Iran will effectively benefit economically and that its banking and trade relations with other countries will return to normal." Reuters previously reported that Tehran was drafting a negative response to the US proposal. An Iranian diplomat said the US offer failed to resolve differences over uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, the shipment abroad of Iran's entire stockpile of highly enriched uranium and reliable steps to lift US sanctions. Last week, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the US proposal as against Iran's interests, pledging to continue enrichment on Iranian soil, which Western powers view as a potential pathway to building nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes. Trump said Iran was the main topic of a phone conversation he had on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu's office said the president had told him talks with Iran would continue at the end of the week. During his first term in 2018, Trump ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. Iran responded by escalating enrichment far beyond that pact's limits. Iran says the West has turned a blind eye to Israel's nuclear programme even while pushing against Iran's. Israel neither confirms nor denies that it has nuclear weapons. Baghaei said sensitive Israeli documents, which Iran has previously promised to unveil, would demonstrate "that parties constantly questioning Iran's peaceful nuclear programme actively work to strengthen Israel's military nuclear programme".
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
DBS tops US$100 billion market value in Singapore Exchange first
South-east Asia's top lender closed 0.8 per cent higher at $45.49 in Singapore trading on June 9, giving it a market capitalisation of $129.36 billion. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI SINGAPORE – DBS Group Holdings became the first listed company in Singapore to top US$100 billion (S$128.6 billion) in market value, helped by a weaker US dollar that amplified gains on the local stock market. South-east Asia's top lender closed 0.8 per cent higher at $45.49 in Singapore trading on June 9, giving it a market capitalisation of $129.36 billion (US$100.6 billion), extending its gains this year to more than 4 per cent. The advance in DBS's share price in US-dollar terms was driven by the weaker greenback. So far this year, the Singapore dollar has appreciated about 6 per cent against the US dollar. In local currency terms, DBS has eased slightly from its record closing high of $46.67 on Feb 26. At the current market value, DBS ranks about 22nd among global banks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's ahead of Tokyo-based Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, but half that of HSBC Holdings. Some of Asia's biggest banks like Commonwealth Bank of Australia and India's HDFC Bank have bigger market capitalisations. The milestone comes after Singapore banks pledged in recent months to hand over billions of dollars in surplus capital to investors, encouraged by record-high earnings in 2024. DBS in particular, has benefited from increases in lending and wealth fees. Other than DBS, Singapore-based Sea that is listed in New York reached this valuation before. DBS chief executive officer Tan Su Shan took charge of the bank in March from Piyush Gupta after his 15-year leadership. Ms Tan said at her first earnings call in May that the bank seeks to benefit from supply-chain changes undertaken by its clients and increased demand for hedging foreign exchange exposure amid US President Donald Trump's tariff moves. 'A lot of DBS's out-performance has been due to the larger growth of its wealth management, which is really starting to challenge top players in Asia,' said Michael Makdad, a senior analyst at Morningstar, adding he sees the business continuing to grow. 'Despite Trump's tariffs, the environment remains relatively benign for Singapore banks which are increasing share dividends and buybacks more than we would've expected a year ago.' DBS is the third-largest wealth manager in Asia, excluding mainland China, according to data compiled by industry publication Asian Private Banker. Net new money for its business catering to the rich came in at $21 billion last year, demonstrating the strong inflows that have exceeded $20 billion for the past three years through 2024. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
