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ComfortDelgro signed a letter with Uber for exclusive
discussions to form a potential strategic alliance, which may
include collaboration to manage fleet vehicles and booking
software solutions in the city-state, the taxi firm said in a
statement to the Singapore Exchange.
The taxi operator said the potential tie-up would also include
the company's taxis being made available on Uber's app.
ComfortDelgro is the market leader in Singapore with a fleet of
15,000 taxis. Like in other markets, traditional taxi firms in
Singapore have been hit by the growth of ride-hailing firms such
as Grab and Uber.
Uber, which has pulled out of massive markets China and Russia,
has used Singapore as a springboard to grow in populous
Southeast Asia.
ComfortDelgro said there was no certainty that the talks would
result in any definitive agreement or transaction.
It declined to provide any comments beyond the statement. Uber
also declined comment.
Grab has dominated the market in Southeast Asia and says it has
a 95 percent market share in third-party taxi-hailing and 71
percent in private vehicle hailing in the region.
ComfortDelgro has a total fleet size of about 44,000 buses,
taxis and rental vehicles and operates in seven countries
including Singapore, China, the UK and Australia.
The company said earlier this month its revenue from the taxi
business was expected to decline as the operating environment
stayed challenging with the substantial increase in private hire
vehicles.
(Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)
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