ComfortDelGro terminates stake in Uber's Lion City, forges ahead with private hire plans

COMFORTDELGRO announced on Friday that it has terminated its agreement to take a 51 per cent stake in wholly-owned Uber subsidiary Lion City Holdings.

ComfortDelGro added that as of Friday, the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) "will cease to have any effect and the parties shall have no further obligations or claims against one another thereunder", adding that its application to the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore will be withdrawn.

The SPA's termination is not expected to have any material impact on ComfortDelGro's net tangible assets per share and earnings per share for the current financial year.

ComfortDelGro's managing director and group chief executive Yang Ban Seng said: "The operating environment has changed and the basis on which we were supposed to form the partnership is no longer relevant given that Uber has exited the region.

"Nevertheless, the group still has every intention to go into the private hire vehicle space as we see the increasing convergence of private hire vehicles and taxis in the personalised mobility market."

ComfortDelGro's previously announced deal on Dec 8, 2017 with Uber-owned rental car business, Lion City Holdings, was valued at about S$642 million, with a cash consideration of S$295 million.