Grab (NASDAQ:GRAB) said it has agreed to acquire a controlling 60% equity interest in consumer finance platform Atome Financial, a transaction the Southeast Asian technology company said would accelerate the scale and profitability of its financial-services segment.
Chief Executive Officer Anthony Tan described the deal as a move to deepen financial inclusion among underbanked consumers in Southeast Asia, where Grab said credit-card ownership and formal borrowing remain limited. Tan said Grab is acquiring the stake for $1.49 billion in cash, funded from existing cash, with completion expected by the third quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals.
Consumer lending scale and cross-selling opportunity
Atome provides buy now, pay later services, a pay-later card and cash loans. Tan said the company has a gross loan book of more than $1 billion, relationships with more than 30,000 unique brands and over 25 million cumulative transacting users. Atome operates in five of the six markets where Grab operates, according to management.
Grab said Atome is already adjusted EBITDA positive and has grown gross merchandise value more than ninefold over the past six years. Tan said Atome’s consumer underwriting engine uses more than 100,000 variables and 131 models, enabling real-time credit decisions. He also said Atome has more than 22 live artificial-intelligence applications across its risk stack.
Grab’s existing lending operations have focused primarily on drivers, merchants and its digital-bank customers. Only 1% of Grab’s 138 million annual transacting users currently borrow from the company, Tan said. Management sees potential to expand the lending user base by more than 10 times over the medium term through the combined platforms.
“Atome is the natural next stage,” Tan said, describing consumer lending as a complementary addition to Grab’s existing payments, insurance, investment and digital-banking offerings.
Alex Hungate, Grab’s president and chief operating officer, said buying Atome would allow Grab to “leapfrog” years of development in consumer lending, including the creation of underwriting models and distribution relationships. He said Grab expects to maintain both companies’ existing consumer-lending offerings in markets where they overlap, including Singapore and Malaysia, rather than immediately retire products.
Financial targets raised through 2028
Grab raised its medium-term outlook following the proposed transaction. The company now expects revenue to grow at a compound annual growth rate of more than 30% from 2025 through 2028, compared with its prior target of 20% growth. It also increased its 2028 group adjusted EBITDA target to $1.7 billion from $1.5 billion.
For financial services, Grab said it expects to exit 2026 with a gross loan portfolio of more than $3 billion and to exceed $6 billion by the end of 2028, assuming timely consolidation of Atome. The company is targeting $500 million of adjusted EBITDA for the financial-services segment in 2028, including Atome.
Chief Financial Officer Peter Oey said Grab’s financial-services segment was loss-making in 2025, with adjusted EBITDA of negative $110 million, but remains on track to become profitable in the second half of 2026. The company expects Atome to contribute to growth in consumer-lending penetration, longer-tenure products, yields, credit performance and operating leverage.
Oey said the anticipated loan-book growth would not be an equity-funded strategy. Grab expects most of the loan book to sit with its consolidated digital banks—GXS, GXBank and Superbank—while Atome will continue developing relationships with its financing partners.
Integration and capital allocation
Tan said Atome will continue operating under its own brand and licenses during the two-year earn-out period, with its management team retaining day-to-day responsibility. Grab plans to focus integration efforts on specific opportunities, including underwriting insights, cross-selling and funding costs, rather than a broad immediate integration.
Hungate said Grab-controlled governance will establish risk-appetite parameters for Atome, while Atome’s team will execute within those guardrails. He said any cooperation involving funding or distribution would be conducted on an arm’s-length basis during the earn-out period.
Grab also said it intends to complete approximately $900 million in remaining share buybacks over the next 12 months. Oey said the company has repurchased $351 million through August 2026 under programs announced in February and August. Including prior repurchases, Grab said its cumulative share buybacks from 2024 would reach $1.75 billion, representing more than 10% of shares outstanding since the start of 2024, and that it intends to cancel the repurchased shares.
In addition, the company plans to deploy $160 million to broaden affordability offerings and build its grocery and retail operations. Oey said the investment is intended to support user acquisition, engagement and cross-selling opportunities as Grab expands its financial-services capabilities.
About Grab (NASDAQ:GRAB)
Grab Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: GRAB) is a technology company that operates a superapp serving consumers, drivers, merchants and businesses across Southeast Asia. Its platform connects users with transportation, food and grocery delivery, parcel and on-demand logistics, digital payments and other financial services.
The company began as a ride-hailing service in Malaysia in 2012, founded by Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling, and expanded into a broader digital platform. Grab’s consumer offerings include private-hire and taxi services, GrabFood, GrabMart and GrabExpress, while its financial-services products include digital payments, lending, insurance and digital banking services offered in selected markets.
Grab serves markets across Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Cambodia.
