As far as the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) is concerned, the merger between Grab and Uber is not yet a done deal, at least in the country. The commission has reiterated that the transaction must be subject to its review before changes in both ride-sharing companies’ local operations are implemented.
According to PCC Chairman Arsenio Balisacan, the agency has a threshold for a mandatory notification of such deals. The transaction value must cost at least P2 billion and the value of either party must be at least P5 billion for that mandate to take effect and for a review that would last up to 30 days to be initiated.
Anti-competitive review
Grab and Uber have yet to disclose the local value of their merger and the valuation of each of their local operations. If the merger does not meet the threshold, PCC could still review the deal to determine its impact to competition.
“We have to establish an analysis that transaction could lead to lessening of competition, if that’s the case and we tell the parties that information and if they don’t address concerns to our satisfaction, we will disallow the transaction,” Balisacan told ABS-CBN News in an interview.
PCC has assured the riding public that it would protect their interest as the agency closely looks for potential anti-competitive impact of the merger.
Photo from Grab Philippines Facebook page
April 2 meeting
Grab PH and Uber PH officials will meet with PCC on Monday (April 2) to discuss the merger and address consumers’ concerns. In a joint announcement on Monday (March 26), the companies said Uber app will be shut down on April 9 after a two-week transition, which began that day.
The two companies’ combination is also meeting various reactions from drivers, passengers, and governments in other countries across Southeast Asia, where Uber has decided to pull out operations so it could focus on markets where it enjoys domination.