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Bloomberg
Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc is investing more than $700 million in Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab, gaining access to millions across the region that use the mobile app to book cars and meals.
The Japanese financial institution intends to market a range of financial services from insurance to loans to Grab’s millions of users, said a person familiar with the deal who was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.
Grab, one of several ride-hailing giants backed by SoftBank Group Corp, is trying to build a regional super-app that offers a range of services including finance, payments and rides. The startup, one of Southeast Asia’s largest, doesn’t disclose its number of users — which include many for food delivery — but said its app has been downloaded onto more than 166 million mobile devices in the region.
MUFG and Grab intend to announce their alliance soon, the Nikkei reported earlier, citing unidentified people. A Grab representative had no immediate comment when contacted.