Competition Commission says not received notification from Grab, Uber on South-east Asia merger

SINGAPORE'S competition authority is reaching out for official word of the merger between ride-hailing firm Grab and the South-east Asian arm of rival Uber, a spokesman has told The Business Times.

The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) said on Monday in response to queries from BT: "The parties have stated in their media release that they intend to file a notification of the transaction to CCS.

"In this regard, CCS has not received such a notification, and is writing to the merging parties to clarify the details."

The statutory board added that Singapore's competition law prohibits mergers "that may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition".

Should the CCS find that a merger situation is expected to result in such a lessening, it has powers to give directions to remedy the matter.

For example, the commission can require the merger to be unwound or modified to prevent the substantial lessening of competition.

"CCS may also consider issuing interim measures prior to the final determination of the merger," it noted.

The commission is still reviewing taxi giant ComfortDelGro's planned acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in Uber's car rental subsidiary, Lion City Holdings.