Peer-to-peer ride sharing transportation network company Uber Technologies Inc, which earlier planned to sell its failed auto-leasing business to Fair.com, has now agreed to sell its Southeast Asian business to bigger regional rival Grab. The deal marks the industry’s first big consolidation in Southeast Asia and puts pressure on Indonesia’s Go-Jek, which is backed by Google and Tencent Holdings Ltd, which earlier invested a $ 115-million into music streaming service Gaana. As per the deal Uber will now take a 27.5 percent stake in the Southeast Asian company and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab’s board.

SoftBank’s Investment in Uber

Expectations of consolidation in Asia’s competitive ride-hailing industry were stoked earlier this year when Japan’s SoftBank made multi dollar investment in Uber

SoftBank is also one of the main investors in several other big ride-hailing firms including Grab, China’s Didi Chuxing, and India’s Ola. Ride-hailing companies throughout Asia have relied heavily on discounts and promotions, driving down profit margins.

Uber’s Investment in Southeast Asia Business

Uber invested $700 million in its Southeast Asia business, less than the $2 billion which it invested through in China before ceding its operations there to Didi.

Uber is likely making more deals with rivals, but has no plans to do another sale in which it consolidates its operations in exchange for a minority stake in a rival.

Steeping up its Battle with Ola in India

According to a source, Uber is planning to step up its battle with Ola in India, another rival, in an effort to gain market share. Uber has close to 60 percent of the market there, by some estimates.

Uber includes the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America among its core markets – regions where it has more than 50 percent market share.