SoftBank moving US$20B of ride-hailing investments into Vision Fund: FT
Today’s news update is a reminder of how intertwined Asia’s ride-hailing industry has become
KYOTO, JAPAN – APR 14, 2017 : Pepper Robot Assistant with Information screen at Tsutaya shop Tourism Japan
SoftBank plans to move its significant investments in Grab, Uber, Ola, Didi Chuxing and 99 (Brazil) into its famous US$93 billion Vision Fund, which has become a powerhouse in the technology industry.
As reported by the Financial Times, one of the hopes of the fund is that it will allow for the competitors to work more closely together.
The stakes are currently held by the SoftBank corporation, but the newspaper reports the investments could be transferred to the world’s largest private equity fund in the coming months.
The reason SoftBank has not already moved the investment into the Vision Fund is the result of a US$3.5 billion direct investment into Uber from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund named Public Investment Fund, the FT reports. PIF is a major Limited Partner of the Vision Fund.
Today’s news is a reminder of just how intertwined the ride-hailing industry has become in Asia. Grab and Didi both bought-out Uber in their respective markets. However, as part of the deal, Uber now has significant shares in both companies. Didi has been an active investor in Grab and Ola.
Rumours continue to circulate that Uber will pursue a similar strategy with Ola in India.
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Didi’s top rival in China (Meituan Dianping) and Grab’s top competition in Southeast Asia (Go-Jek) have come under the Tencent umbrella.
Other major investments by the Vision Fund include WeWork, FlipKart (which looks like it’s heading to an imminent sale to Walmart) and OYO.
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