16 October 2023

(View Media Release in PDF)

1. The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (“CCCS”) has completed its Phase 1 review^[1] of the proposed acquisition by Grab Holdings Limited (“Grab”) through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Grab Rentals Pte. Ltd. (“GrabRentals”) of 100 per cent of the shares of Trans-cab Holdings Ltd. (“Trans-cab”) (collectively, the “Parties”) (the “Proposed Acquisition”).

Background

2. On 7 August 2023, CCCS embarked on its Phase 1 review following the acceptance of an application^[2] from the Parties for a decision on whether the Proposed Acquisition, if carried into effect, would infringe section 54 of the Competition Act 2004, which prohibits mergers that have resulted, or may be expected to result, in a substantial lessening of competition within any market in Singapore.

3. GrabRentals owns a fleet of private-hire cars for rental to drivers for the provision of ride-hail services to passengers.^[3] In Singapore, Grab operates primarily over a mobile application across the digital financial services, delivery and mobility sectors, which also include ride-hail platform services. Trans-cab is a licensed street-hail service operator in Singapore and also owns a fleet of private-hire cars for rental to drivers for the provision of ride-hail services. Trans-cab offers phone taxi booking services to passengers but only for the taxi fleet operated by Trans-cab. The Parties overlap in the provision of: (a) private-hire car rentals for ride-hail services in Singapore and (b) ride-hail platform services^[4] in Singapore.

Competition Concerns

4. CCCS is unable to conclude at the end of its Phase 1 review that the Proposed Acquisition does not give rise to any competition concerns. CCCS has raised competition concerns with the Parties on the Proposed Acquisition, based on information received from the Parties and third-party feedback from industry players and members of the public during the Phase 1 review.

5. In particular, notwithstanding that licensed ride-hail operators are prohibited from imposing exclusive arrangements that prevent their driver-partners from driving for rival ride-hail operators under the Point-to-Point Transport regulatory framework, third-party feedback received by CCCS suggests concerns on the effect of Grab’s ownership of the Trans-cab fleet on Trans-cab drivers’ usage of rival ride-hail platforms, which may raise barriers to expansion and entry for Grab’s rival ride-hail platforms, given the importance of scale in the ride-hail platform industry. Accordingly, CCCS needs to review the competition effects of the Proposed Acquisition in greater detail.

6. At this stage, the Parties may offer commitments to address the potential competition concerns of the Proposed Acquisition raised by CCCS. Otherwise, CCCS will proceed to a more in-depth Phase 2 review of the Proposed Acquisition upon CCCS’s receipt of the relevant documents from the Parties. Commitments may also be offered at any time during a Phase 2 review. For more information on the merger review process in Singapore, please refer to Annex 1.

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^[1] A Phase 1 review entails a quick review and allows merger situations that do not raise competition concerns under the section 54 prohibition to proceed. For more information on what a Phase 1 review entails, please refer to Annex 1.

^[2] For more information on the Proposed Acquisition, please refer to CCCS’s media release dated 14 August 2023.

^[3] A ride-hail service is a point-to-point transport service obtained through a phone or application booking.

^[4] “Ride-hail platform services” refers to platform services to match drivers and passengers for ride-hail services, which may be obtained through the use of a mobile application or phone.