Grab successfully mobilises $200 million from US' Booking Holdings

October 31, 2018 | 09:32

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Despite the on-going dispute with local taxi firm Vinasun in Vietnam, Grab has successfully lured in $200 million investment from US-based Booking Holdings, a company specialised in tourism and online hotel booking.

grab successfully mobilises 200 million from us booking holdings

Grab is moving towards the goal of mobilising $3 billion investment this year. Source: Shutterstock

In the morning of October 30, Booking Holdings and Grab Holdings announced their strategic co-operation plan in Singapore. Accordingly, the US brand will provide Grab’s travel services through the Booking application, and Grab’s customers will be allowed to book hotel rooms via the website booking.com and agoda.com.

Thus, via the partnership, the two corporations set a goal of market expansion and simplifying tourism solutions, then improving tourism experience for customers in Southeast Asia and over the world.

Furthermore, Booking Holdings also affirmed that Grab is Southeast Asia’s leading online-to-offline (O2O) platform. “Grab has scaled impressively across Southeast Asia over the last few years, establishing itself as a recognised leader in an increasingly competitive space, and we are excited to partner with them to build even better travel experiences through technology,” said Todd Henrich, head of Booking Holdings’ Corporate Development.

With this call for investment, Grab has successfully mobilised $2 billion capital, closing on its goal of $3 billion as of the end of this year.

Talking about the co-operation, Ming Maa, president of Grab said, "We are delighted to work with Booking Holdings to give our users even more everyday services to choose from when they open the Grab app. The online travel market in Southeast Asia is set to nearly triple by 2025 and we see numerous synergies between travel and transportation that will allow us to capitalise on this huge opportunity.”

Booking Holdings oversees some of the world’s most popular travel booking sites, including booking.com, agoda.com, KAYAK, and priceline.com. In July, it invested $500 million in Chinese ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing.

By Van Anh

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