Grab largest ride-hailing firm in SEA, not just Indonesia, says Emtek MD

When Emtek Group shifted its focus to digital businesses, the company realized it needed partners to improve its economies of scale.

The Indonesian conglomerate, which owns major television stations and prominent hospitals in the country, has branched out to ecommerce, online video, and payment services, among others. However, major services such as ride hailing are still absent from its portfolio.

“Grab is clearly the largest ride-hailing startup in Southeast Asia, not only just in Indonesia,” said Sutanto Hartono, Emtek Group’s managing director, during this year’s Tech in Asia Conference. He added that when the two firms met, it felt like a coming together of like-minded businesses.

Breakdown of Grab and Emtek’s strategic partnership / Photo credit: Grab, Emtek

That’s one of the reasons behind the strategic partnership between Grab and Emtek announced in July this year. The deal is expected to combine the strengths of the former’s services with the latter’s portfolios in media, commerce, and content production businesses.

The alliance is anchored to a mutual investment: Emtek pumped US$375 million into the super app, while Grab snapped up shares in the tech and media conglomerate in return.

However, while both companies have services that are mostly complementary to each other, some of their services seem to overlap.

The most obvious intersection is between GrabKios and Mitra Bukalapak, which Emtek has a stake in through its investment in a local unicorn Bukalapak. Both services have the same aim of supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia.

Grab and Emtek have both tapped into other areas like online payments – through Ovo and Dana – and startup investments via Grab Ventures Velocity and KMK Online.

Hartono explains that the partnership between Grab and Emtek is different from a merger. In most cases, the firms will bring their services together to create better economies of scale. However, in other areas, the two companies may decide to go about their business separately.

“That’s the beauty of it. We have a multiple menu. When it makes sense [to join forces], then we collaborate. But if it makes sense for us to stand alone, we will keep it as it is,” Hartono said.

Give and take is key for the alliance