Heaptalk, Jakarta — Two behemoth ride-hailing companies, Grab Holdings Ltd and GoTo Group, were reportedly in talks of a merger scenario. According to the anonymous spokesperson, these entities carry out this move to cease business loss and their long-running competition for the last years.
“This discussion has lasted. Multiple significant shareholders of both companies support the deal and have encouraged talks,” Spokesperson cited in Bloomberg.
In earlier years, Grab and GoTo have previously considered merging their businesses. This latest discussion was held again after GoTo relinquished control of the e-commerce unit to ByteDance’s TikTok last December.
According to sources, this deal makes the ride-hailing company a more vigorous partner. This merger is also expected to assist GoTo and Grab in raising tariffs and discovering synergy in tremendous markets, including Indonesia, where the rivalry has kept prices low.
This strategic effort is claimed to boost these entities’ market capitalization up to US$19.5 billion, approximately Rp304.66 trillion. As cited by Bisnis, GoTo recorded its market cap at US$6.4 billion (around Rp100.92 trillion) in February 2024. Meanwhile, Grab possessed a market capitalization of up to US$12.99 billion, which equals Rp 203.74 trillion.
With this merger scenario, the spokesperson revealed one potential option for Singapore-based Grab to acquire GoTo using cash, shares, or both. In this merger, these corporations are claimed to divide their markets. Grab will focus on Singapore and several other Southeast Asian markets, while GoTo Group will focus on retaining its market in the archipelago.
However, the two entities are still determining a merger scheme because the valuation remains challenging, particularly regarding the structure and agreement governance. As is known, GoTo shares also experienced a diminishment of up to 30% in the last year. Nevertheless, the shareholders have supported this corporation’s action.
Responding to this matter, these giant ride-hailing still refuse to confirm further. As GoTo’s Head of Corporate Communications, Sinta Setyaningsih, said in detik “We cannot yet respond to speculation occurring in the market. Currently, the company is not conducting discussions regarding this matter.”
Amid the merger issue, GoTo shares bumped by 3.57%, attaining Rp87 per share. Based on the RTI, the company stocks have been positively opened due to an increase to Rp90 per share on Monday (12/02).
