Grab is buying Singapore-based buy-now, pay-later platform Atome Financial for $1.49 billion in cash as the Southeast Asian technology company moves to deepen its consumer lending business and expand the reach of its financial services operations.
Grab will initially acquire a 60% controlling stake in Atome, with plans to purchase the remaining 40% roughly two years after the first transaction closes. The two-stage structure is intended in part to reduce the capital-allocation risk associated with the deal, Grab Chief Financial Officer Peter Oey told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Wednesday.
Grab shares closed 3.64% lower on Nasdaq following the announcement, suggesting investors were initially cautious about the scale and structure of the transaction.
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The acquisition gives Grab an established consumer-credit platform that operates across sectors where the company has a more limited presence, including travel, beauty and e-commerce. Atome’s network of merchants and consumers could allow Grab to extend its financial services ecosystem beyond the users and transactions already generated through its mobility, delivery and digital platforms.
“All this together actually brings our capability to the next level when it comes to financial services,” Oey said, adding that the transaction would be accretive to the business and had contributed to Grab raising its 2028 outlook.
The deal is expected to close next year. As a result, Atome’s financial contribution is expected to become more significant toward the latter part of that year and into 2028, according to Oey.
Grab expects its financial services segment to generate $500 million in adjusted EBITDA by 2028, making the Atome acquisition an important part of its effort to turn financial services into a larger contributor to the group’s earnings.
Grab Expands Beyond Payments And Mobility
Grab has spent years building financial services around its broader Southeast Asian consumer ecosystem. Its expansion into lending represents a shift from simply facilitating transactions toward capturing more of the financial activity generated by consumers and merchants using its platforms.
Atome gives Grab an existing business in a segment where customer relationships and merchant acceptance are critical. Rather than building a new buy-now, pay-later operation from scratch, Grab will take control of a platform already connected to brands across several consumer categories.
Oey said Atome’s presence in travel, beauty and e-commerce would give Grab access to areas where its existing operations have less reach.
That diversification could yield positive results as Grab seeks to increase the scale and profitability of its financial services business. Consumer lending can generate higher revenue per customer than basic payment services, but it also introduces greater exposure to credit losses, regulatory requirements, and changing consumer borrowing behavior.
The acquisition therefore expands both the opportunity and the risk within Grab’s financial services operations. The company will need to integrate Atome while maintaining underwriting discipline and managing the regulatory requirements associated with consumer credit across multiple Southeast Asian markets.
Grab plans to retain Atome’s existing management team, Oey said. The decision could help preserve operational expertise and reduce disruption during the integration process.
The two-year gap before Grab acquires the remaining 40% will also give the companies time to develop potential synergies before the full transaction is completed. Oey said the period would allow Grab and Atome to work on those opportunities while limiting the amount of capital committed immediately.
The structure effectively gives Grab time to assess how the businesses work together before completing the acquisition. It also provides a longer window for integrating technology, customers and merchant relationships and determining where the combined platforms can generate additional revenue.
Southeast Asia’s Credit Gap Becomes A Growth Opportunity
Grab’s interest in consumer lending comes as financial access remains uneven across Southeast Asia. Oey pointed to access to fair credit as an area where Grab wants to work with regulators, indicating that the company’s expansion will depend not only on demand but also on the regulatory framework governing digital lending.
The company is also examining micro-investing as another potential financial services opportunity in the region. That broadens the potential ambition beyond lending. A combination of payments, credit, investment products and other financial services could allow Grab to develop a more comprehensive financial ecosystem around its large consumer and merchant base.
However, the economics of such an expansion will depend on execution. Lending businesses can grow rapidly when credit is readily available, but profitability can deteriorate when borrowers struggle to repay or when regulators impose tighter requirements.
For Grab, the attraction of Atome is therefore not simply the addition of another financial product. It is the possibility of using an established consumer-credit platform to extend the company’s reach into transactions and customer relationships that sit outside its traditional strengths.
The $1.49 billion initial cash consideration also makes the deal one of Grab’s more significant capital commitments as it seeks to build a larger earnings contribution from financial services. The staged acquisition allows the company to spread that commitment over time while pursuing potential operating synergies.
The immediate share-price decline shows that the market will scrutinize whether those expected benefits justify the cost and risks of the acquisition. Grab will ultimately have to demonstrate that Atome can contribute meaningfully to earnings while maintaining responsible credit standards across its markets.
The company has set a clear financial target: $500 million in adjusted EBITDA from financial services by 2028. With the Atome transaction expected to contribute more materially from late next year, the performance of the acquired business will become an increasingly visible part of Grab’s progress toward that goal. The deal marks another step in Grab’s evolution from a ride-hailing and delivery platform into a broader consumer technology and financial services company.