Thailand's Central Group invests $200m in Grab

Central Group will acquire a minority stake in Grab's Thai entity, so it is not part of the ongoing Series H round that values the company at more than $10 billion. Collaborations will focus on areas such as food delivery, logistics and transportation. This is likely to involve GrabExpress providing services to Central Group-owned businesses, GrabFood including the conglomerate's restaurants on its platform, and Central Group's retail customers being encouraged to use Grab services.

"Grab is a fast-growing O2O platform which has scaled up impressively in Southeast Asia. Grab, like Central Group, is now an essential part of everyday life for many Thai people. We look forward to collaborating together to revolutionize the retail and service industry, a strategic key driver for the country's growing economic success," Tos Chirathivat, Central Group's executive chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

The Thai giant has interests spanning retail, property development, brand management, hospitality, and food and beverage. Its listed subsidiaries include property developer Central Pattana, department store and shopping mall operator Robinson, Centara Hotels & Resorts, and Central Restaurants Group. Central Group's efforts to push into online services include two Thailand-based partnerships with China's JD.com, covering e-commerce and digital payments.

Grab has a presence in 235 cities across eight countries in Southeast Asia through its signature ride-hailing app, having acquired the regional operations of Uber in March 2018. It has completed more than three billion rides since inception, with its app downloaded onto over 130 million mobile devices. There are 8.5 million drivers, merchants, and agents in its network. Annual revenue is just over $1 billion.

GrabFood and GrabExpress exist alongside transportation services such as taxis, car-sharing, shuttles, and scooters. The company is also growing its financial services presence, having launched the GrabPay mobile wallet in all six major ASEAN economies and a cross-border remittance service set to arrive in 2019. Grab Ventures is intended to help the company keep tabs on new technological developments, while it is working with Hyundai and Kia on rolling out a fleet of electric vehicles.

"We're doing something different with every one of our strategic investors," Ming Maa, Grab's president, told AVCJ late last year. "For example, Booking Holdings is a leader in travel, hotels, and flights, so we're looking at the pain points around transportation and payments when you're in another country and don't speak the language. Also, Microsoft has built out the world's best artificial intelligence and machine learning platform, and we're looking to apply that to better personalize the experience when you use Grab."

Microsoft and Booking Holdings both invested in Grab last October, with Hyundai committing $250 million a month later. This was followed by a $150 million investment from Yamaha Motor. These contributions form part of the Series H, which totaled $2 billion as of August 2018. Toyota Motor Corporation is the lead investor, with participation from the likes of Ping An Capital, Oppenheimer Funds, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Macquarie Capital, and Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Technology
• Consumer
• Expansion
• Thailand
• Grab
• Growth capital