Grab, Southeast Asia's largest ride-hailing and food delivery company, has just bought a controlling stake in Indonesian e-wallet OVO.

According to a regulatory filing, Grab will hold 90% of OVO (previously the company held a 39% stake in OVO).

Key Highlights

• Grab will increase its stake in OVO by buying out Tokopedia and Lippo Group, increasing its stake from 39% to 90%.
  
• OVO is presently one of Indonesia's most popular e-wallets, with a 38% market share in the country.
• Back in 2019, OVO was valued at $2.9 billion and had been downloaded over 100 million times.

Why It Matters

• Grab is focusing on strengthening its financial services business in Indonesia, and relies largely on OVO's services and licenses.
• With the Gojek and Tokopedia merger, OVO was placed in a challenging spot where Gojek being a major competitor Tokopedia contributing largely to its payment volume.
• Indonesia's digital economy is expected to grow to $124 billion by 2025, according to a 2020 study by Google, Temasek Holdings and Bain & Company.