In a statement, Southeast Asian ride-hailing and food delivery giant Grab said, it has raised $2 billion from its first term loan, in what is said to be the biggest institutional debt in Asia’s technology sector. The development comes as the company tries to expand its regional services.
In a statement on Monday, Grab said, its five-year senior secured loan was upsized from the initial $750 million after it secured commitments from international institutional investors”.
Anthony Tan, group CEO & co-founder of Singapore-based Grab said, the developments underscores investor recognition of the value of Grab’s super app platform, as “we continue making consistent progress in achieving our growth and sustainability milestones.”
Softbank Group Corp-backed Grab has evolved from a ride-hailing app operator to a one-stop shop for services such as food delivery, payments and insurance in Southeast Asia, home to about 650 million people.
It has also been ranked as Southeast Asia’s most valuable start-up with a valuation of more than $16 billion. It has also won a digital bank license in Singapore.
In January 2020 Grab said, its total group net revenue has jumped by around 70% year-on-year in 2019-2020 and recovered to comfortably above pre-pandemic levels.
The loan will be used for general corporate purposes and will allow Grab to diversify its finances. The interest rate on the loan was lowered by 100 basis points from the original launch guidance to 450 basis points over LIBOR, said Grab.
JPMorgan was the lead bookrunner on the loan facility, while Deutsche Bank, Mizuho, Barclays, MUFG, HSBC, and Standard Chartered were the joint bookrunners.
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