KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA — AirAsia is to acquire Indonesian unicorn Gojek’s business in Thailand as the low-cost Malaysia airline steps up its digital ambitions.
Confirming an earlier report by Nikkei Asia, Gojek and AirAsia announced a share swap deal on Wednesday that will see the Indonesian tech group take an unspecified stake in AirAsia’s own “superapp” business. The companies said the business had a market value of around $1 billion.
The agreement shows how AirAsia is trying to join the ranks of Southeast Asia’s superapps alongside Gojek and Grab, with a business spanning ride-hailing and delivery to online payments.
“By taking on Gojek’s well-established Thai business, we’ll be able to turbocharge our ambitions in this space to become a leading ASEAN challenger superapp,” said Tony Fernandes, the group CEO of AirAsia.
The deal also suggests how Gojek is reshaping its regional business in the wake of its announcement in May that it would merge with Tokopedia — one of Indonesia’s largest e-commerce platforms — to form GoTo.
The deal would allow Gojek to increase investments in Vietnam and Singapore, the companies said.
“AirAsia Digital … will become a highly valued partner for us, as we share the same goal to provide users with better services while enhancing the livelihoods of drivers and merchants,” said Gojek CEO Kevin Aluwi. “At the same time, the deal will enable us to pivot our focus in international markets towards Vietnam and Singapore — markets providing us with the best return on investment and strategic growth opportunities.”
Fernandes has previously publicly stated his intention to compete with Gojek and Grab, its Singapore-based rival, which is headed for a U.S. stock market listing this year.
AirAsia Digital, including the company’s non-airline businesses, already includes food and fresh food delivery, courier services, an e-commerce platform and a payment gateway but has lacked ride-hailing compared with the other big players in the market.
AirAsia has been present in Thailand’s aviation industry since 2003 via Thai AirAsia. It currently operates in Malaysia and Singapore while its stand-alone cargo company Teleport is present in major countries in Southeast Asia, including Thailand.
GoTo said in May that it remained “committed in all of our markets outside Indonesia.” But the combined group lags its rivals in international expansion. Tokopedia only operates in Indonesia, while Gojek has operations in three countries outside of its home market — Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore.
Grab operates in eight Southeast Asian countries. Sea, another superapp, is in six countries in the region, with further operations in Taiwan and four South American countries.
The Thai superapp market is seen as particularly competitive given how local conglomerates have taken part. Retail giant Central Group invested $200 million in Grab’s Thai subsidiary in 2019, while Thailand’s largest conglomerate, Charoen Pokphand Group, is working to nurture its telecom subsidiary’s TrueID content app into a more powerful superapp.
According to food delivery research by Singaporean consultancy Momentum Works, Gojek’s service had a far smaller share of the Thai and Vietnam markets compared to Grab and Sea in 2020.
GrabFood took up 50% of Thailand’s $2.8 billion food delivery market in 2020 in terms of gross merchandise value, while Frankfurt-listed Delivery Hero Group’s Foodpanda and Line’s Lineman covered 23% and 20% respectively. Gojek’s GoFood had a 7% share in the market.
Additional reporting by Masayuki Yuda in Bangkok
Malaysia carrier furthers its “superapp” ambitions via deal with Indonesia unicorn
