Ride-hailing firm Grab secures up to $700 mn in debt facilities

Singapore-headquartered Grab, the main Southeast Asian rival of Uber Technologies, said on Friday it had secured debt facilities of up to $700 million to help expand its car rental programme.

Grab, which said the debt funding was a record for a southeast Asian start-up, said the facilities were secured from global and regional banks. Grab, whose leasing programme helps in growing its driver network, said it would have the largest car rental fleet in Southeast Asia by the fourth quarter of 2018. It said it would make more cars available for rent, and provide more favourable terms and services for drivers, increasing the supply of vehicles on the road. The company said it has more than 1.8 million drivers in its regional network.

The company also said it had signed a partnership with Singapore’s SMRT, which would give it exclusive access to SMRT’s taxi and private car fleet management capabilities, in addition to its network of taxis and Strides private-hire cars. 

SMRT is a public transport operator, whose services include trains and buses. It has a fleet of more than 3,300 taxis.