SoftBank Corp. share price down, invests $250 million to acquire a stake in GrabTaxi

SoftBank Corp. revealed in a statement that it made a $250-million investment in GrabTaxi Holdings Pte at a time when the cab-booking service is trying to overcome the competition of Uber Technologies Inc. in Southeast Asia.

According to an interview with Anthony Tan in Bangkok, SoftBank will become the biggest shareholder in GrabTaxi. Mr. Tan did not provide any other details about the stake, which the Japanese company will purchase. The taxi-booking application has raised a total of about $340 million over the last 14 months.

Mr. Anthony Tan said in an interview with Bloomberg: “We will do whatever it takes to ensure that we maintain our leadership in an ethical and moral way. It’s a fight for market share. We’re many many times bigger than our closest competitors and we intend to grow that fast.”

SoftBanks investment is expected to greatly benefit the taxi-booking application which is seeking to raise funds in order to expand its reach in Southeast Asia. GrabTaxi reported that it is currently the largest taxi-booking application in the region with 500 000 active users, 50 000 taxi drivers and 2.5 million downloads of the application.

The founder and Chief Executive Officer of SoftBank – Mr. Masayoshi Son – made a promise for further investments in what he called a “massive wave of internet revolution” in Southeast Asia. The acquisition of a stake in GrabTaxi is the latest part of SoftBanks strategy to expand its influence on the market. The Japan-based company has spent more than $600 million to acquire stakes in Snapdeal and Tokopedia.

SoftBank Corp. closed 0.13% lower at JPY7 803 per share on Thursday in Tokyo, marking a one-year change of -8.20%. The company is valued at JPY9.38 trillion. According to the Financial Times, the 17 analysts offering 12-month price targets for SoftBank Corp. have a median target of JPY10 400, with a high estimate of JPY12 000 and a low estimate of JPY7 800. The median estimate represents a 33.11% increase from the previous close of JPY7 813.