Booking Holdings and Grab Holdings entered into a strategic partnership where respective customers would have access to on-demand transport services and would be able to book accommodations across the globe.
The partnership also involved an investment from Booking Holdings in Grab for $200 million. With the investment, Grab, the leading on-demand transportation, and mobile services in Southeast Asia, increased its more than $2 billion in funding it already previously amassed from other stakeholders. Earlier this month, Microsoft Corporation has also invested an undisclosed amount in Grab.
Grab has been targeting a fundraising of more than $3 billion before 2018 ends. The funding shall support the company's goal of positioning itself as Southeast Asia's "super app" used by people every day for ride-hailing, food delivery service, parcel delivery, and digital payments.
Grab currently has a presence in 235 cities in eight countries. The platform currently enables 8 million micro-entrepreneurs.
Bookings Holdings, on the other hand, has a presence in more than 220 countries. The global leader in online accommodations and travel e-commerce oversees popular travel booking sites, including Booking.com, agoda.com, KAYAK, Priceline.com, Rentalcars. Com, and OpenTable.
Through the strategic partnership which was announced on Oct. 29, brands under Booking Holdings could offer transport services across apps powered by Grab.
Grab customers, on the other hand, would be able to book accommodations through Booking.con and agoda. They could also pay seamlessly using GrabPay.
Ming Maa, president of Grab, said its partnership with Booking Holdings allow its customers to have more daily services options when they log in via the Grab app. The partnership also comes at a time when the online travel market in Southeast Asia is expected to grow three times by 2025, Maa said. There would be more synergies between travel and transportation and the partnership with Booking Holdings give Grab the opportunity to capitalize on the potential business opportunity, the president added.
In July, Bookings Holdings has entered into a similar partnership with Didi Chuxing, the largest ride-hailing platform in China. The company has also invested $500 million into the company.
Through the partnership, brands under Booking Holdings would also have the capability to offer on-demand car services through DiDi apps. In return, DiDi Chuxing customers would also have access to hotels through Booking.com and agoda.
DiDi Chuxing has more than 550 million users and partners across China, South America, Australia, and Japan.
On Tuesday, reports emerged of DiDi Chuxing looking into entering the hotel-booking business. The move is aimed at closing the gap from its major competitors, the South China Morning Post reported, citing a report from a local financial publication.
