Uber Technologies will be selling its Southeast Asian business to rival Grab, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal could be announced as early as Monday Mar 26 in Singapore, said a Bloomberg report.
The sales agreement will include all of Uber and Uber Eats operations in Southeast Asia, giving Uber a stake of about 25-30 percent in the new combined business.
This deal represents another of Uber's operational exit from international markets. In 2016, the company's former chief executive officer (CEO) Travis Kalanick sold Uber's China business in return for a 17.5 percent stake in the leading Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing. Just before Dara Khosrowshahi took over as CEO, Uber's Russian business was sold to Yandex.
Khosrowshahi has been focusing efforts on cleaning the company's financials to prepare for an initial public offering in 2019. By pulling out of markets like Southeast Asia, Uber – which has burned through S$14.08 billion since its founding nine years ago – seeks to boost profits.
On the other hand, Khosrowshahi also signalled last month that he is committed to key markets such as Japan and India.