SINGAPORE - Ride-hailing giant Grab is acquiring Trans-Cab, Singapore’s third-largest taxi operator.
Sources told The Straits Times that negotiations started only two months ago, and the transaction is slated to be completed this week. The deal will have to be approved by the authorities. In 2017, Grab was in talks to buy SMRT’s fleet, but the deal fell through. In 2022, it started talks with Prime Taxi, the smallest cab operator here, but the deal did not proceed. In both cases, sources said the offers were “too small”.
But earlier in 2023, SMRT Taxis – which has since been rebranded as Strides – bought Premier Taxis, and their combined fleet of about 2,500 vehicles now exceed Trans-Cab’s. ComfortDelGro remains Singapore’s largest taxi operator with around 8,800 taxis, or just over 60 per cent of the market.The ride-hailing firm, which is in other businesses such as food delivery, finance, insurance and payments, has been incurring losses since it was started in 2012.