Japanese telco Softbank has agreed to pay US$250m to become the largest shareholder in Southeast Asian mobile taxi booking application GrabTaxi.
Tokyo-based Softbank said it expects the investment to further boost the group’s presence in the region…
Japanese telco Softbank has agreed to pay US$250m to become the largest shareholder in Southeast Asian mobile taxi booking application GrabTaxi.
Tokyo-based Softbank said it expects the investment to further boost the group’s presence in the region and maximise synergies with its internet companies internationally.
The precise stake to be acquired by subsidiary Softbank Internet and Media (SIMI) was not revealed.
Founded in 2012 by entrepreneur Anthony Tan, Malaysia-based GrabTaxi now serves 17 cities across six countries which, in addition to Malaysia, include the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia. It claims its mobile app has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times and has 500,000 users per month.
Softbank vice chairman and SIMI CEO Nikesh Arora commented: “In two short years, GrabTaxi has become the dominant player in Southeast Asia’s mobile taxi booking industry, which is a testament to Anthony’s outstanding leadership.”
Tan, GrabTaxi’s CEO, said the company will take advantage of Softbank’s expertise and group synergies to further accelerate its growth.
“This new round of funding will help drive our mission of revolutionising and improving the way Southeast Asians commute more aggressively than ever before.”
The deal is the latest in a string of investments in international online and media content businesses for Softbank, which aims to become the world’s largest internet company. This autumn alone, it spent more than US$900m on stakes in Indian e-commerce firm Snapdeal and taxi booking service Ola Cabs as well as Indonesian e-commerce company Tokopedia.
