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This
deal will be funded from the $700 million Grab has promised to
invest in Indonesia, its largest market, over the next four
years, said the person who declined to be identified as the
information was not public.
Founded in 2014, Kudo facilitates online transactions for
Indonesian consumers, according to its website. It targets
consumers with no bank accounts and in small towns and cities,
helping them to make purchases online through its agents.
The deal may be announced as early as this week, and Grab - the
biggest rival to U.S. firm Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] in
Southeast Asia - is betting the transaction will help it expand
in the online payment space, the person said.
Both Grab and Kudo declined to comment.
Grab's expansion is set to intensify the competition among
ride-hailing firms in Indonesia. Its rivals in the country of
250 million people include Uber and home-grown firm Go-Jek.
Grab teamed up last year with Indonesian conglomerate Lippo
Group to roll out a mobile payment platform. Under the
partnership, customers can use the Grab app to make payments at
Lippo's retail outlets across the country.
Grab, which was co-founded by Harvard Business School graduate
Anthony Tan, raised $750 million in a funding round last
September, more than a month after its Indonesian rival, Go-Jek,
received $550 million from investors including KKR and Warburg
Pincus.
(Reporting by Eveline Danubrata, additional reporting by Cindy
Silviana; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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