Grab invests $100 million in Indian hotel startup OYO: source

[December 03, 2018]  By Aditi Shah

(Reuters) - Singapore-based ride-hailing firm Grab has invested $100 million in Indian hotel-reservations startup OYO, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday.

An employee sits next to the logo of OYO, India's largest and fastest-growing hotel chain, at the reception of a hotel in New Delhi, India, September 25, 2018. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

Both companies are backed by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T>.

The investment by Grab is part of the $1 billion fund raise OYO announced in September in a bid to grow its business in India and China, and expand into new international markets.

Grab's investment takes capital raised by the fast-growing hotel room aggregator in the funding round to up to $900 million. Of this, $800 million came from SoftBank and others.

While it was not immediately clear what the funds would be used for, the deal could be similar to Grab's technology collaboration deal https://in.reuters.com/article/grab-funding-microsoft/microsoft-to-invest-in-southeast-asian-ride-hailing-firm-grab-idINKCN1MJ03L with Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O>, the source said.

Grab, known as the Uber of Southeast Asia, was valued at around $11 billion at its last funding round in August, sources have told Reuters.

Grab declined to comment, while OYO did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

The Economic Times earlier reported that Grab was in advanced talks to invest $100 million in OYO.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya and Chris Thomas in Bengaluru and Aradhana Aravindan in Singapore; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar and Rashmi Aich)

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