Singapore's Grab Invests $100 Mn In OYO's $1Bn Funding Round

SUMMARY

Investment part of ongoing $1 Bn funding rounding

OYO will be Grab's first investment in India

Grab had acquired Southeast Asia operations of Uber

Singapore’s cab-hailing company Grab has invested about $100 Mn in Indian hospitality chain OYO as both the companies look to expand their services in Indonesia.

A media report citing two people briefed on the matter had earlier said that the funding was under advanced discussion and the deal may be closed in the next few days. If talks are successful, this will be Grab’s first investment in India.

The deal was done via Grab’s A1Holdings Inc. and is part of OYO’s ongoing $1Bn funding round.

In September, OYO had raised $800 Mn in funding, led by SoftBank Vision Fund, along with existing investors Lightspeed India Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Greenoaks Capital. The company had also received a $200 Mn commitment from undisclosed investors.

The fresh funding round is expected to value the company at $4.14 Bn.

OYO has launched its hotel chain in three cities of Indonesia — Jakarta, Surabaya, and Palembang — bringing over 30 full-inventory, franchised and operated hotels, and over 1,000 rooms across the three Indonesian cities. The company has plans of investing $100 Mn for expanding in 35 cities in the country.

At the time, OYO founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal had said, “Indonesia is one of the top choices for both global and Indian travellers, and with our market learning and expertise we are ready to tap this opportunity.”

Agarwal said OYO’s expansion will create over 60K direct and indirect livelihood opportunities in Indonesia.

[The development was reported by ET.]

Update: December 7, 2018, 10:53

In a recent regulatory filing accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler and as received by Inc42, OYO confirmed the $100 Mn investment from Grab. A1 Holdings Inc, a Cayman Islands-registered entity, which is controlled by Singapore-headquartered Grab, has been issued 2,884 Cumulative Convertible Preference Shares at a price of $34,670 (INR 24.4 Lakh) per share, as part of the SoftBank Vision Fund-backed OYO’s Series E equity financing round. The article has been updated accordingly.