Grab (NASDAQ:GRAB) executives outlined plans to enter Taiwan through an agreement to acquire Delivery Hero’s foodpanda delivery business in the country, describing the transaction as a major expansion of its deliveries opportunity and a move into its first market outside Southeast Asia.
Deal overview and timeline
On the call, management said Grab signed an agreement to acquire 100% of foodpanda Taiwan from Delivery Hero in an all-cash transaction valued at $600 million. Group CFO Peter Oey said the purchase is on a cash-free and debt-free basis, subject to customary closing adjustments, and values the business at a 0.33x 2025 EV/GMV multiple.
Why Taiwan, according to management
Co-Founder and CEO Anthony Tan framed the acquisition as both a strategic and operational fit, citing Taiwan’s urban density, income levels, and consumer behavior. Tan said Taiwan becomes Grab’s ninth market and its first outside Southeast Asia, and emphasized cultural familiarity and connectivity between Taiwan and Southeast Asian communities.
Tan highlighted several data points he said supported the move:
- Urban density: He said Taipei’s urban density is 3.6x the company’s Southeast Asian average, which management believes can support more efficient delivery logistics and higher fleet utilization.
- Spending power: Tan said that outside of Singapore, Taiwan is the highest income market in Grab’s regional footprint, and that almost seven in 10 users were already using food delivery apps in 2025.
- Household structure: He said over four in 10 households in Taiwan are single-person residences, which he described as a favorable driver of recurring, high-frequency food delivery demand.
Tan also pointed to Taiwan’s economic growth as supportive context. He said Taiwan’s economy grew 9% in 2025 and that the central bank raised its 2026 GDP growth forecast to 7%, citing exports and private investment linked to an AI boom. As an example of investment in the sector, he referenced TSMC’s plan to invest over $50 billion in capital expenditures this year to meet AI chip demand.
Scale of foodpanda Taiwan and addressable market impact
Tan said foodpanda Taiwan generated $1.8 billion in GMV across 21 high-density cities in 2025, describing it as a “compact, high-yield asset.” He also said that user penetration is 10%, which he characterized as leaving meaningful runway for increased adoption.
On the strategic impact, Tan said the move creates a 20% step change in Grab’s deliveries addressable market. He said Taiwan adds over $40 billion in addressable market opportunity to the company’s approximately $200 billion base in Southeast Asia, bringing the combined food delivery addressable market to over $240 billion.
User reach, subscriptions, and integration plans
President and COO Alex Hungate said one of the first aspects that stood out to Grab during evaluation was foodpanda Taiwan’s reach, citing user reach of over 67% by city. He also said that one-third of foodpanda users are pandapro subscribers, and that this cohort drives over 50% of foodpanda Taiwan’s total GMV.
Hungate said pandapro subscribers order three times more frequently than non-subscribers. He added that merchants participating in the pandapro program in 2025 saw up to a 4x increase in order growth.
On geography, Hungate said user reach exceeds 70% in Kaohsiung and other tier-two cities, while Taipei and New Taipei were cited at 63% and 58%, respectively, leaving room for growth in major cities.
Oey said Grab is targeting a full platform migration—moving users, merchant partners, and driver partners from the foodpanda app to the Grab app—by early 2027. He said Grab plans to bring its “AI-first partner tools,” including GrabMaps and an AI Merchant Assistant, and to embed Grab’s expanded deliveries product suite to enhance consumer experience in Taiwan.
Financial guidance and profitability expectations
Oey said there is no change to Grab’s guidance, reiterating its 2026 Adjusted EBITDA target of $700 million to $720 million. He added that, subject to the closing timeline, the transaction will be accretive to Grab’s 2026 group revenue guidance of $4.04 billion to $4.10 billion.
Looking further out, Oey said Grab expects foodpanda Taiwan to be accretive to its three-year Adjusted EBITDA outlook of $1.5 billion by 2028 and expects the business to contribute at least $60 million in incremental Adjusted EBITDA in 2028.
In Q&A, Oey said Grab anticipates one-off integration costs in 2026 and 2027, describing them as front-loaded as the company migrates from the foodpanda app to the Grab app and unifies its technology and logistics stack. He said the company expects the Taiwan business to be turning profitable toward the end of 2027. He also said Taiwan has the potential beyond 2028 to improve toward a 4%+ deliveries margin, similar to other markets in Southeast Asia.
Executives also addressed other investor questions, including regulatory engagement and potential conflicts with Uber as a major shareholder. Tan said Uber remains a strategic partner and that Grab’s fiduciary duty is to all shareholders, while Hungate said the company looks forward to “transparent and productive dialogue” with Taiwan regulators. Separately, Hungate said Grab reiterated its 2026 EBITDA outlook, citing a strong start to the year and a playbook to manage fuel price spikes, including targeted subsidies and efforts to reduce fuel volatility through EV adoption and routing efficiency.
About Grab (NASDAQ:GRAB)
Grab Holdings Inc is a Singapore-based technology company that operates a consumer-facing “super app” across Southeast Asia offering services spanning ride-hailing, food and package delivery, and digital payments. Its platform connects consumers, drivers, merchants and delivery partners through mobile applications and supports on-demand mobility (taxi and private car), last-mile logistics, and on-demand food delivery under brands such as GrabFood and GrabExpress. The company has also developed a merchant-facing ecosystem that supports ordering, payment acceptance and loyalty functions.
Beyond transportation and delivery, Grab has expanded into financial services through Grab Financial Group, which provides digital payments via GrabPay, consumer lending, insurance distribution and small-business financial solutions.
