SINGAPORE ¨C Grab, Uber Technologies Inc.¡¯s fiercest rival in Southeast Asia, is hunting for deals with funding from its biggest backer SoftBank.
The five-year-old startup has built a team for mergers and acquisitions led by President Ming Maa, with a pipeline of deals under review, CEO Anthony Tan said in an interview Tuesday. He declined to elaborate on specific targets and said the company doesn¡¯t have plans for an initial public offering because it has plenty of funding from investors.
Grab¡¯s funding has been helped by a strong relationship with SoftBank that has blossomed since Tan first met with CEO Masayoshi Son at the billionaire¡¯s Tokyo office in 2014. Tan said he listened to Son¡¯s advice to take his money, which was agreed upon with a handshake, and the Japanese company has backed every funding round since.
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