- Ride-hailing and food delivery giant Grab may launch an IPO in the US this year, sources told Reuters.
- The IPO could raise at least $2 billion, one of the sources said, which would likely be the largest overseas share offering by a Southeast-Asian company.
- Grab is worth more than $16 billion and operates in eight countries.
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Southeast Asian ride-hailing and food delivery giant Grab is exploring a listing in the US this year, encouraged by robust investor appetite for IPOs, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The IPO could raise at least $2 billion, one of the sources said, which would likely make it the largest overseas share offering by a Southeast-Asian company.
“The market is good and the business is doing better than before,” they said. “This should work well for public markets.”
The plans, including the size of the issue and timing, have not been finalized and are subject to market conditions, said the sources, who declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak about the matter.
Singapore-based Grab declined comment on the potential IPO.
Grab, whose backers include SoftBank and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, has expanded rapidly from its beginnings as a ride-hailing venture in Malaysia in 2012 to become the region’s most valuable startup, worth more than $16 billion and operating in eight markets.
The company, which also offers financial services and recently gained a digital bank licence in Singapore, said this month group revenue had recovered to be comfortably above pre-pandemic levels. It has also said its ride-hailing business is breaking even in all its operating markets, including Indonesia, the biggest. It expects its food delivery business to break even by the end of the year.
The IPO plans would come after merger discussions with Indonesian rival Gojek were dropped.
Gojek and Indonesian e-commerce leader Tokopedia are in advanced talks for a $18 billion merger ahead of a potential dual listing in Jakarta and the US.
Demand for delivery services has boomed during the pandemic as people seek convenient and contact-free ways to get both food and parcels delivered, and companies have been getting innovative. In the US, Chipotle has opened its first “dark” restaurant, which only makes food for collection and delivery after its online sales tripled in a year, and KFC Japan has trialed contactless lockers for customers to collect their orders.
Burger King is also rolling out new-look restaurants this year in Miami, Latin America, and the Caribbean which focus on contact-free delivery and collection methods – including delivering orders to customers’ cars via a conveyor belt.