Grab Holdings agreed to acquire a controlling 60 percent stake in Singapore-based buy now, pay later provider Atome Financial for $1.49 billion in cash. Announced on September 15, 2026, the deal expands Grab’s consumer lending footprint across Southeast Asia and raises its 2028 financial targets.
Ride-hailing and superapp giant Grab has struck a definitive agreement to take a majority equity interest in Atome Financial. The transaction combines Atome’s digital financial services operations with Grab’s sprawling ecosystem across mobility, deliveries, and existing financial products.
The Deal Structure and Two-Stage Acquisition Timeline
The initial transaction centers on a 60 percent controlling stake valued at $1.49 billion in cash, which includes $260 million of primary growth capital. The deal is expected to close by the third quarter of 2027, pending customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
Rather than executing a complete buyout immediately, Grab structured the agreement in two phases. The company agreed to acquire the remaining 40 percent stake approximately two years after the initial transaction concludes.
According to CFO Peter Oey, this phased framework was intentionally designed to de-risk
the transaction from a capital allocation perspective.
The second-stage purchase price avoids a fixed valuation agreed upon today. Instead, it relies on a performance-based formula tied to Atome’s financial metrics before closing, applying a 13 times multiple to annualized adjusted EBITDA and a 2.5 times multiple to annualized revenue. This valuation mechanism carries a $2 billion floor and a $4.5 billion cap, with at least half of the final consideration paid in cash.
Strategic Rationale and Regional Expansion
Atome Financial operates across Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand, serving 25 million cumulative transacted users. Its product suite spans Buy Now, Pay Later loans, consumer cash loans, BNPL cards, and other digital lending tools, including Kredit Pintar in Indonesia.
By absorbing Atome, Grab gains immediate scale in markets where its consumer lending footprint was previously more limited.
Merging AI Underwriting With Ecosystem Data
At the technological core of the acquisition is the integration of Atome’s AI-powered credit scoring infrastructure with Grab’s vast behavioral dataset. Grab currently maintains nearly 54 million monthly transacting users across its mobility, delivery, and financial services platforms.
Powered by AI and data, every transaction makes our underwriting smarter and our products more personalised. With Grab’s ecosystem, and our proven AI-powered lending infrastructure, we can extend that to millions more across Southeast Asia who’ve been left out — and together, do more to close the financial inclusion gap than either of us could alone.
Jefferson Chen, Chairman and CEO of Advance Intelligence Group Limited, and CEO of Atome Financial
Atome Financial brings a $1 billion gross loan portfolio that has maintained disciplined credit quality, with delinquency rates remaining stable or improving across borrower cohorts as the loan book expanded.
Both companies emphasized the financial inclusion angle, citing data that more than 70 percent of adults in Southeast Asia remain unbanked or underbanked. In 2025, 68 percent of driver-partner borrowers accessed formal credit for the first time through Grab, with half reporting they did so to avoid predatory lenders.
Impact on Grab’s 2028 Financial Targets
The acquisition size is substantial enough to reshape Grab’s medium-term financial projections. Alongside the deal announcement, Grab raised its financial guidance for 2028.
The company now forecasts adjusted EBITDA of $1.7 billion and annual revenue growth of more than 30 percent between 2025 and 2028. Within that umbrella, Peter Oey stated that the Financial Services segment is expected to generate $500 million in adjusted EBITDA by 2028, supported by a combined gross loan portfolio exceeding $6 billion.
Regulatory Hurdles and Integration Path Ahead
While Atome’s existing management team will stay on to run day-to-day operations under the Grab umbrella, the path to final consolidation depends heavily on regional regulatory clearances across five jurisdictions. Antitrust and banking regulators in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand must vet the transaction before the anticipated third-quarter 2027 closing date.
Until regulatory approval is granted and the deal officially closes, Atome operates independently. Market watchers will be tracking whether regional watchdogs impose conditions on data sharing between Grab’s mobility ecosystem and Atome’s merchant network of over 30,000 brands, particularly as digital lending oversight tightens across Southeast Asia.