U.S. travel firm Booking Holdings Inc has invested $200 million in Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab as part of a strategic partnership between the two companies.
The deal will enable users to book travel-related services through Grab’s app and pay via the GrabPay digital wallet, according to a statement. Booking Holdings will allow users of its brands’ apps to hail Grab vehicles. Singapore-headquartered Grab, which operates in 235 cities across Southeast Asia, is looking to transform itself into a leading consumer technology group, offering services such as food and parcel deliveries, electronic money transfers, micro-loans and mobile payments, besides ride-hailing. Booking Holdings oversees some of the world’s most popular travel booking sites including Bookings.com, Agoda.com, KAYAK and Priceline.com. In July, it invested $500 million in Chinese ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing. Booking’s investment adds to the more than $2 billion that Grab has received so far as part of its targeted fundraising of over $3 billion by the end of this year. Earlier this month, Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) invested an undisclosed amount in Grab.
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