Sources reveal that Uber is already planning their exit from the Southeast Asian region and has come to an agreement in principle with rival company Grab in selling their area operations in exchange for around a 30% stake in Grab, according to Wall Street Journal.
The pact between the two ends the long fight over the region’s fast-growing ridesharing market, with a population of over 600 million.
For Uber, this could be an opportunity to recover losses and clean up in preparation for their IPO next year. Though, this wouldn’t be the first time they had readily cut their losses and concede to their competition. In 2016 the company sold their Chinese operations to rival Didi Chuxing Technology Co. for a 20% stake, and last year in Russia reached a deal merging with Yandex.Taxi for roughly 37% stake.
Meanwhile at a value of $6 billion, Grab continues to dominate the regional market, operating in 178 cities and amassing over 80 million app downloads. They are currently in talks with Japanese investor SoftBank, which also happens to be Uber’s largest shareholder and also owns stakes in Chinese and Indian ridesharing companies.
