Grab has agreed to acquire a controlling 60% stake in Southeast Asian digital lending platform Atome Financial for $1.49 billion in cash, significantly expanding the superapp company’s consumer lending operations across the region.
The transaction includes $260 million of primary growth capital and is expected to close by the third quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions. Grab will consolidate Atome Financial into its Financial Services segment after closing, while Atome’s existing management team will continue operating the business.
Grab has also agreed to purchase the remaining 40% approximately two years after the initial transaction closes.
Rather than establishing a fixed price today, the second-stage acquisition will use a performance-based formula tied to Atome’s financial results before closing.
The formula applies a 13 times multiple to annualized adjusted EBITDA and a 2.5 times multiple to annualized revenue, weighted 75% and 25%, respectively.
The resulting equity valuation will have a $2 billion floor and a $4.5 billion cap, with at least half of the consideration paid in cash.
Atome Financial operates across Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand and has served 25 million cumulative transacted users.
Its products include Buy Now, Pay Later loans, consumer cash loans, BNPL cards and other digital lending products. Atome also operates Kredit Pintar in Indonesia.
The company has a $1 billion gross loan portfolio and a network spanning more than 30,000 brands. Grab said delinquency rates have remained stable or improved across borrower cohorts as the loan book has expanded.
The strategic logic centers on combining Atome’s AI-powered credit underwriting technology with the extensive behavioral and transaction data generated across Grab’s mobility, delivery and financial services ecosystem.
Grab currently has nearly 54 million monthly transacting users.
That could give Atome access to a much larger distribution network, while Grab gains an established consumer lending platform rather than building all of those capabilities internally.
The companies also see a substantial financial inclusion opportunity. Grab said more than 70% of adults in Southeast Asia are unbanked or underbanked.
In 2025, 68% of Grab driver-partners who borrowed through the platform were accessing formal credit for the first time, and half said they did so to avoid predatory lenders.
The acquisition is also large enough to materially change Grab’s financial outlook.
The company expects its Financial Services segment, including Atome, to generate $500 million of adjusted EBITDA by 2028 and reach a gross loan portfolio above $6 billion.
Grab also increased its overall 2028 guidance to $1.7 billion of adjusted EBITDA and more than 30% compound annual revenue growth from 2025 through 2028.
The initial Atome transaction is being financed entirely from Grab’s existing cash and is expected to be accretive to Group Adjusted EBITDA when completed. Grab said the acquisition will not affect its existing share repurchase program.
The deal would further expand Grab beyond ride-hailing and food delivery as financial services become a larger part of the company’s Southeast Asian ecosystem.
Grab currently provides payments, digital banking, insurance, partner lending and consumer lending. Its banking operations include GXS Bank in Singapore, GXBank in Malaysia and Superbank in Indonesia.
KEY QUOTES:
“Atome Financial’s leading use of AI to underwrite digital lending to millions of users across the region, while managing risk effectively, will help to scale and strengthen Grab’s whole ecosystem. The proposed transaction accelerates the growth and profitability of our financial services segment by deepening our consumer lending capabilities and unlocking opportunities for us to serve Atome’s large merchant network.”
“By coming together, we can deliver on our common vision of using technology to responsibly extend financial access to the unbanked and underbanked in the region, to drive Southeast Asia forward.”
Alex Hungate, President and COO of Grab
“We founded Atome Financial eight years ago on a simple conviction: everyone deserves access to responsible credit and financial services, not just those with a conventional banking history. Over eight years, we’ve built a sustainable and reliable financial services platform serving millions of customers across five markets. Powered by AI and data, every transaction makes our underwriting smarter and our products more personalised.”
Jefferson Chen, Chairman and CEO of Advance Intelligence Group and CEO of Atome Financial
“Atome Financial gives us a proven consumer lending operator and an established merchant base, letting us scale our Financial Services segment significantly faster and more cost-efficiently than building it ourselves. The transaction is funded entirely from our existing cash, is expected to be accretive to Group Adjusted EBITDA upon completion, and does not affect our ongoing share repurchase program.”
Peter Oey, CFO of Grab
