airasia Digital to acquire Gojek’s Thailand operation

airasia Digital, the digital arm of airasia Group, announced that it is acquiring the Thailand operations of Gojek, Southeast Asia’s mobile on-demand services and payments platform, for $50 million.

airasia will work with the existing Gojek team in Thailand, who will operate the Gojek business during the transition period before moving over to the airasia super app, bringing local market expertise and a deep understanding of Thai user needs to the business, according to the announcement.

The deal is expected to rev up the expansion of the airasia Super App in Southeast Asia while enabling Gojek to increase investments in its Vietnam and Singapore operations. In return, Gojek will receive shareholding in the airasia Super App, whose market value is around $1 billion.

“The deal provides both parties with a strong foundation to explore additional opportunities for collaboration and synergies in one of the fastest-growing regions in the world,” according to the announcement.

The Gojek app will continue to operate for existing users in Bangkok through to 31 July 2021 to ensure stability for Gojek drivers and merchants – who will be invited to onboard the airasia Super App in the coming weeks.

“By taking on Gojek’s well-established Thai business, we’ll be able to turbo charge our ambitions in this space to become a leading Asean challenger super app,” said airasia Group CEO Tony Fernandes.

Fernandes said airasia has a complete digital economy system and has successfully established over 15 different non-airline products and lifestyle services on our digital e-commerce platform in Malaysia.

“Now it’s time to take it to the next level. In response to overwhelming regional demand, we are setting our sights on bringing our Super App offerings to all of our key markets, following the successful rollout in Thailand,” Fernandes added.

Gojek CEO Kevin Aluwi said the deal is a testament to the accomplishments of its team in Thailand, who grew the business from nothing to an on-demand service provider that has made a difference to hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country.

At the same time, in a realignment of its international strategy, Gojek is increasing investment in its Vietnam and Singapore operations, having identified these markets as strong sources of growth for the business going forward.

This includes increased driver and merchant acquisition initiatives, enhancements to user experience as well as launching new products and services.