- Grab acquires Singapore’s Chope to expand its services, including dinner reservations, to outcompete rivals in the Southeast Asian market.
- The acquisition sees Chope’s team joining Grab, with no job losses, and strengthens Grab’s ecosystem and advertising capabilities.
OUR TAKE
Amid fierce competition in the Southeast Asian market, Grab has taken a strategic step towards expanding its service offerings by acquiring Chope, a restaurant booking app in Singapore. This move not only enriches Grab’s service offerings, but also highlights its proactive response strategy in the face of competitors such as GoTo Group and Line Man Wongnai. With this move, Grab further consolidates its leadership position in taxi and food delivery services in key markets such as Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.
–Elodie Qian, BTW reporter
What happened
In a strategic move to bolster its market presence, Grab Holdings Ltd. has acquired Singapore-based restaurant reservation app Chope.
Grab is enhancing its service portfolio by incorporating dinner reservations, aiming to outpace competitors such as GoTo Group and Line Man Wongnai in key markets like Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand. Both Grab and Chope have confirmed this acquisition, initially reported by the Business Times.
The company is not only looking to maintain its core services of ride-hailing and food delivery but is also aiming to increase its profit margins in the fiercely competitive Southeast Asian market of more than 650 million people.
Chope, which has gained popularity in the region, has faced stiff competition, a challenge that Grab is now set to address.
Arrif Ziaudeen, founder of Chope, said in a statement, “Considering today’s challenging and competitive market, we have chosen to seek a partner to help us pursue new opportunities for sustainable growth. We evaluated potential buyers and found the best fit with Grab.”
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Why it’s important
As part of the deal, Grab will take over Chope’s operations in Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand. Employees of Chope are expected to join Grab’s offices within weeks, according to an internal email from Ngiam Xin Wei, head of Grab’s deliveries, as reported by the Business Times. The acquisition will not result in any redundancies at Grab, and Chope’s team will continue to operate as a unit under Grab’s Omnicommerce business.
Nathan Naidu, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, noted that the acquisition of nearly profitable Chope will not impact Grab’s positive adjusted Ebitda. The addition of Chope’s 10,000 merchants to GrabFood’s ecosystem, which already includes over 200,000, is expected to enhance outdoor dining advertising sales.
This latest acquisition by Grab highlights the company’s leading position in ride-hailing and food delivery services in the region. Discussions of a potential merger between Grab and Indonesia’s GoTo regarding their core businesses have been revived, as reported by Bloomberg earlier this year.
