Grab’s deal for its second Malaysian supermarket checks out

Grab’s been giving its wallet a workout recently.

Its acquisition earlier this month of Everrise, which runs a chain of supermarkets in East Malaysia, came hot on the heels of buying Cambodian on-demand startup Nham24.

This is also Grab’s second acquisition of a Malaysian supermarket chain, having purchased Jaya Grocer in January 2022.

Photo credit: Grab

Groceries are part of Grab’s deliveries segment. In 2024, deliveries generated US$1.5 billion or around half of overall revenue, making it the super app’s largest business by revenue.

While those figures also include food delivery, groceries have grown faster than that unit for the second quarter in a row, Grab COO Alex Hungate revealed in the earnings call for the company’s results for its fourth quarter of 2024.

On the surface, the deal makes sense. Grab is buying a profitable business that will expand its presence in East Malaysia.

However, Jaya’s profitability post-acquisition appears to have shrunk, at least in 2022 and 2023, raising questions about whether the Everrise deal can avoid a similar path.

Klang to Kuching

By buying Everrise, Grab is strengthening its reach and filling a geographical gap.

Like Jaya, Everrise operates premium grocery chains. However, unlike Jaya, whose 57 outlets are mostly located in the Klang Valley (the country’s main urban area), all 19 of Everrise’s supermarkets are located in East Malaysia.

Everrise is headquartered in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak state, which is almost 1,000 kilometers away from Kuala Lumpur.

For Grab, doubling down on Malaysia lets it capitalize on the market’s ideal combination of affluence and scale. Of Southeast Asia’s six major economies, it is the second richest – on a GDP per capita basis – after Singapore, but it has a population that is over 5x the size of the small city-state.

Fewer regulatory hurdles

More to come?