Grab buys Singapore’s Chope to add dining reservation service

Ride-hailing and delivery provider Grab Holdings Ltd acquired Singapore restaurant reservation app Chope for an undisclosed sum, expanding its services as competition over users intensifies.

The deal adds dinner bookings to Grab’s offerings as it seeks to ward off rivals like GoTo Group and Line Man Wongnai in markets including Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. Spokespersons for Grab and Chope confirmed the acquisition, which was earlier reported by the Business Times.

Grab is pushing beyond its core services of ride hailing and food delivery, seeking to boost its margins in the cut-throat South-East Asia market of more than 650 million people. Chope’s booking app has gained popularity in the region, but it too has faced stiff competition in a crowded market.

“Considering today’s challenging and competitive market, we have chosen to seek a partner to help us pursue new opportunities for sustainable growth,” Chope founder Arrif Ziaudeen said in a statement. “We evaluated potential buyers and found the best fit with Grab.”

Grab said it is taking over Chope’s operations in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand as part of the deal. Chope staff will join Grab’s offices in a couple of weeks, BT reported, citing an internal email it had seen from Grab head of deliveries Ngiam Xin Wei. No roles in Grab will be made redundant as a result of the deal and Chope’s team will remain as a unit under Grab’s Omnicommerce business, it said.

Taking over the near-profitable Chope won’t dent Grab’s positive-adjusted Ebitda, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Nathan Naidu said in a note. Chope’s 10,000 merchants will bolster GrabFood’s ecosystem of over 200,000, boosting outdoor dining advertising sales, he said.

Grab’s latest acquisition underscores its leading position in ride-hailing and food delivery in the region. Grab and Indonesia’s GoTo have revived discussions about a merger of their core businesses, Bloomberg reported early this year. – Bloomberg