Daily Briefing: Riders and drivers fear limited transport choices amidst Grab takeover; Grab set to snap Asia's food delivery business

And Frasers Property is partnering with a blockchain startup to bring the commercial leasing process online.

From Reuters:

A mix of concern and disappointment met Uber Technologies Inc’s deal to sell its Southeast Asian business to bigger regional rival Grab, as drivers and users of the ride-hailing firms took in the prospect of sharply reduced competition.

Whilst drivers were split on which of the two services offered better compensation, they generally expected fares to go up with the reduced competition. However, consumers were not as happy.

Banker Le Hoang Ngan who uses both ride-hailing services expressed concern. “Whoever gives me discount codes I’ll go with it, if not, I’ll skip. So one down will just give me less option,” he said.

Read more here. 

From Deal Street Asia:

Grab’s acquisition of the Southeast Asian business of rival Uber Technologies, the largest-ever deal of its kind in the region, will not only make the Singapore firm a dominant player in the region’s ride-hailing market but will also make GrabFood one of the biggest food delivery businesses in Southeast Asia.

The acquisition includes Grab's immediate takeover of Uber Eats, a major player in the region's food delivery service. In a statement on Monday, Grab said it will integrate its existing GrabFood business, which is present in Indonesia and Thailand, with UberEats and expand to two more countries - Singapore and Malaysia. 

Read more here.

From e27:  

Averspace, a Singapore startup that is digitalising the rental contract process, announced today it has inked a deal with Frasers Property Singapore to begin bringing the commercial leasing process online.

Frasers Property Singapore owns 12 malls, so presumably the first step would be to help get shops to sign their property leases using Averspace.

The deal is using Averspace’s B2B product called Real Estate Doc, which allows companies to build their own contracts and streamline the payment process.

Read more here.