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AirAsia taking over Thailand’s Gojek for $50 million

Photo by: Isabel Lee/Unsplash

AirAsia, Malaysia’s budget carrier, is reportedly in the final stages of discussions to buy Gojek's business in Thailand. The deal with the Indonesian tech company will be another step for the fulfillment of the airline’s goal of generating growth in its digital business.

Industry insiders that have knowledge of the matter told Nikkei Asia that with the deal, Gojek is also modifying its regional business. The company is slowly reshaping its business since it announced its deal with Tokopedia in May. It is one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in Indonesia, and the strategic merger gave birth to GoTo Group.

The acquisition of AirAsia

It was reported that a source from the government shared that AirAsia’s acquisition of Gojek has been approved by the officials. With that, the deal between the companies may be announced soon, but it is also possible that there could be some delays.

Another source revealed that AirAsia and Gojek’s deal is about sharing what their companies have. In this case, it was said that the latter would take stakes in AirAsia’s Super App business. A different source with knowledge of the matter said the deal will be a share swap between Gojek and AirAsia, where Gojek takes stakes in AirAsia's super app business, and in turn, the airline will take over the tech company’s business in Thailand.

AirAsia Digital is already offering food and fresh food delivery in addition to courier services, payments, and e-commerce business. However, it does not have ride-hailing like the other big competitors in the market, so Gojek is a good investment for the company.

"In this way, AirAsia would make its foray into the ride-hailing business as well as expand its food delivery business, which is available in Malaysia and Singapore," an insider that cannot be named due to the confidential nature of the business stated.

The value and financial details of the deal

As per Reuters, AirAsia will be acquiring Gojek's business in Thailand for $50 million worth of shares in the carrier’s Super App unit that is said to be worth around $1 billion. As part of the agreement, the airline will then grant Gojek a 4.76 percent stake in AirAsia's lifestyle platform.

"By taking on Gojek's well-established Thai business, we'll be able to turbo-charge our ambitions in this space," Tony Fernades, AirAsia’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

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