Grab Holdings Ltd, Southeast Asia’s biggest ride-hailing and delivery firm, is buying over premium supermarket chain Jaya Grocer. According to sources, it is forking out RM1.5 billion to RM1.8 billion to acquire the business.
Grab, which debuted on Nasdaq through a back-door listing on Dec 2, announced the acquisition to the US Securities and Exchange Commission less than two weeks later on Dec 11, when it said it had inked a share purchase agreement with the current shareholders of Jaya Grocer to acquire all of Jaya Grocer’s ordinary shares and 75% of its preference shares. Grab, however, did not reveal how much it would pay for the supermarket chain.
The deal comes just 17 days after Jaya Grocer announced that its founders, the Teng family, have bought back their entire stake in Jaya Grocer from AIGF Advisors Pte Ltd, which gave the Teng family full control of the business.
It is learnt that the Teng family bought back the 45% stake for some RM411 million.
Jaya Grocer is a leader in the premium grocery segment in Malaysia and operates 40 stores across Peninsular Malaysia. The majority of these stores are located within the Klang Valley.