Grab said its mobility business is making money in all its markets, while food delivery is in the black in five of six markets.
Grab is raising more than US$4 billion from investors including BlackRock Inc, Fidelity International and T Rowe Price Group Inc as part of the biggest US equity offering by a Southeast Asian company. That, together with a three-year lockup period for its sponsor shares, indicates Altimeter’s long-term commitment to the company, Grab Chief Executive Officer Anthony Tan said.
Grab, the market leader in Southeast Asia for so-called super apps for consumer services, expects its addressable market to expand to more than US$180 billion by 2025 from US$52 billion in 2020. Gerstner is no stranger to Southeast Asia, having invested in Singapore-based gaming and e-commerce leader Sea Ltd. The Tencent Holdings Ltd-backed company has emerged as a stock-market sensation since going public in New York in 2017. Among companies valued at US$100 billion or more, the stock is the No 1 Asian performer since the start of last year and trails only Tesla Inc globally.
Tan founded Grab in his native Malaysia as a taxi-hailing app in 2012 with Hooi Ling Tan, a Harvard classmate. They kicked off operations in Kuala Lumpur as what was then known as MyTeksi, allowing users to book cabs.