Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing and food delivery firm Grab has called off plans to acquire a Singapore taxi company, the city-state's competition watchdog said Thursday.
The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) said it had been told by Grab Holdings Ltd and Trans-cab Holdings Ltd "that they will no longer be proceeding with the proposed acquisition".
The commission issued a provisional assessment this month that an acquisition will "likely result in a substantial lessening of competition in the market", affecting both drivers and passengers, and would violate an "anti-competitive mergers" law.
Singapore-headquartered Grab became Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing platform after buying US-based Uber's operations in the region in 2018.
Trans-cab is a major taxi operator in Singapore.
"Businesses are not prohibited from either having a dominant position or striving to protect their market position through competitive merit," the CCCS said on July 11.
"However, mergers that protect, enhance or perpetuate the dominant position in ways unrelated to competitive merit can be anti-competitive," it said.
The commission said on Thursday it would no longer issue a final assessment after both parties terminated the acquisition plan.
Ride-hailing firm Grab drops Singapore taxi company purchase
Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing and food delivery firm Grab has called off plans to acquire a Singapore taxi company, the city-state's competition watchdog said Thursday.
Source: AFP
