Uber is preparing to sell its Southeast Asia business to Singapore’s Grab in exchange for a sizable stake in the company Grab provides private car, motorbike, taxi and carpooling services in more than 100 cities across Southeast Asia. The company claimed to have 95 percent market share in taxi ride-hailing The objective would be to help Uber reel in its costs in preparation for an IPO as soon as next year Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has focused on cleaning up the company’s battered reputation and instilling financial discipline to push toward profitability. A tie-up with Grab would also play into SoftBank’s efforts to exert greater control over the global ride-sharing market. SoftBank also owns shares in Grab, Didi, India’s Ola and Brazil’s 99, and has publicly expressed interest in Lyft. An Uber investor told Reuters that shutting its Southeast Asia unit would allow the company to “print money” and make an IPO more realistic.
