Uber's Southeast Asia exit gives more arsenal to battle Ola ahead of IPO

Uber brought up a potential merger between the two companies with Uber in the driver's seat

Uber’s decision to exit Southeast Asia, where it was bleeding money, should give the global ride-hailing giant more firepower to focus on India, where it’s locked in a fierce battle with local rival, Ola, industry analysts say.

With Uber considering a public offering in 2019, it would make sense for the company to pitch India’s growth potential to investors, said one industry source, adding it also needs to balance that by showing profitability.

Uber and Ola are both backed by a common investor, SoftBank, which pushed behind the scenes for the merger between Uber and Grab Holdings in Southeast Asia. But it’s