Uber sells Southeast Asian operations to rival Grab.
While news broke yesterday of Uber’s merger with Grab in Southeast Asia, Uber Malaysia staff were apparently told to clear out from their offices in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya within two hours.
According to the Malay Mail, Uber Malaysia administrative employees were given a couple of hours to collect their belongings and vacate their offices, following an abrupt notice issued in the morning after the official merger of Uber and Grab.
“The admin boys told me they were given only two hours to clear their stuff and vacate their premises at Greenlight Hub and their office in Bangsar. It was all so sudden,” Uber driver Azliza Ali Shamsuddin was quoted telling the daily.
A mix of concern and disappointment met Uber’s deal to sell its Southeast Asian business to bigger regional rival Grab, as drivers and users of the ride-hailing firms took in the prospect of sharply reduced competition.While drivers were split on which of the two services offered better compensation, they generally expected fares to go up with the reduced competition.
In the deal, the US ride-hailing behemoth gets a 27.5 percent stake in Grab and its chief executive officer, Dara Khosrowshahi, will also join the board of the Singapore-based company.
“Today’s acquisition marks the beginning of a new era. The combined business is the leader in platform and cost efficiency in the region,” Grab CEO Anthony Tan said in a statement.
Grab, which started out as a taxi-hailing app in Kuala Lumpur in 2012, has become the region’s dominant ride-hailing service with $4 billion raised from investors.
Reportedly, it was most recently valued at $6 billion.
Today, with more than 86 million mobile app downloads, it offers a wide range of ride-hailing services in 191 cities across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Both firms describe the deal as a win for their passengers, but analysts warn it could mean higher prices.