The Philippines will be affected as well
Following news of Uber leaving the Southeast Asia market two weeks ago, Uber and Grab have reached an agreement today, as reported by CNBC.
In the agreement, Uber sold its Southeast Asia operations to Grab in exchange for a 27.5 percent stake. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will have a seat on Grab’s executive board as part of the deal.
In addition, around 500 Uber employees will be absorbed by Grab, as reported by Recode. The Southeast Asia operations of UberEats, Uber’s food delivery service, will also be acquired by Grab
This is the third time Uber has made such a deal. Previously, it has sold its operations to Chinese ride-hailing company Didi in August 2016, and to Russian ride-hailing company Yandex.Taxi in July 2017.
Following the deal, the Uber app will continue to work for two weeks during the transition. We are waiting for updates as to when the transition period will apply to Uber’s operations in the Philippines.
While this would mean that Grab will be the only ride-hailing service in the Philippines, this may not affect all Uber drivers. It’s worth noting that a good number of Uber drivers are also Grab drivers as well, which means they will focus on Grab’s ride-hailing services instead following the deal. Like we mentioned previously, Uber’s eventual exit in the Philippines is not because of its spat with LTFRB.
UPDATE: Grab Philippines has issued a statement on the recently-concluded deal. In an email they sent, Grab and Uber are in the process of transition to ensure things are smooth sailing by April 8. Thank you Thefanboyseo for the tip!
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