The purchase price is understood to be around S$100 million (RM344 million), and the deal includes some 2,200 taxis and more than 300 private-hire vehicles that Trans-Cab owns as well as its vehicle workshop and fuel pump operations.
The acquisition is said to be done through Grab Rentals, the private-hire arm of Grab, which started out as MyTeksi in Malaysia in 2012.
The Singapore daily was told by sources that negotiations had only begun two months ago, and scheduled to be concluded this week.
The deal is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter if regulatory permission is granted. It would make Trans-Cab the first Singapore taxi company to be acquired by Nasdaq-listed Grab.
Previous taxi deals stalled
Grab has been trying to buy a Singapore taxi operator for several years now. Back in 2017, it was in talks to buy SMRT Taxis’ fleet. However, it did not go through.
Again in 2022, it began talks with Prime Taxi, but the deal did not proceed. Sources told the daily that the offers were “too small”.
Trans-Cab has been in the market for 20 years. It began when the government liberalised the industry to increase competition. Within 10 years, Trans-Cab grew to be the island state’s second-largest taxi firm, overtaking SMRT.
However earlier this year, after SMRT’s rebranding as Strides, and its purchase of Premier Taxis, its fleet expanded to 2,500 vehicles, exceeding that of Trans-Cab’s.
At present, ComfortDelGro remains Singapore’s largest taxi operator with some 8,800 taxis covering over 60% of the market.
Apart from ride hailing, Grab – which is also in the food delivery, insurance and payments business – have been incurring losses since 2012.
However, an insider claimed that its private-hire vehicle business was profitable, said The Straits Times.
Based on latest available financial statements posted, Trans-Cab Holdings as at end-2021 had a total equity of S$62.7 million (RM215.7 million).
In 2021, it had a net profit of S$8.7 million (RM29.9 million) and revenue of S$81.1 million (RM279 million).