Grab Philippines said Friday it ventured into ride-hailing motorcycle services with the acquisition of Move IT, a local transport solutions provider.
“We concluded a deal to acquire Move IT’s operations in the Philippines,” Grab Philippines senior director for strategy and operations Ronald Roda said, without disclosing the purchase cost.
“What will happen moving forward is we will keep Move IT as a separate entity. There’s a change in ownership, but there’s no merger of operations,” Roda said.
Roda said Grab would help Move IT further scale its motorcycle taxi fleet and improve the efficiency of its platform to help serve more commuters.
Move IT has less than 1,000 driver-partners on its fleet.
Roda said the company was expecting to hire at least 6,000 driver-partners within three months.
Grab Philippines will also work with Move IT to further enhance its safety and service quality standards and be at par with Grab’s motorcycle taxi services across Southeast Asia.
Move IT will be independently operated using the existing technology and app and will continue to comply with the standards set by the Department of Transportation’s Motorcycle Taxi Pilot Program.
Move IT chairman Francis Juan will continue to lead the company, leveraging his deep knowledge on the motorcycle taxi industry to better address market gaps and leverage untapped market opportunities.
“As we turn a new chapter for our country, Grab Philippines will continue to play an active role in bringing forward the spirit of bayanihan and value-creation—and this milestone that we humbly share with Move IT clearly expresses that,” said Grab Philippines country head Grace Vera Cruz.
“As one of the first tech platforms who firmly believed in the potential and value of the Philippine market ten years ago, we’re doubling-down on our commitment to outserving the needs of the Filipino people, and we are optimistic that through Move IT, we will create more livelihood opportunities, spur greater economic activities, and help improve every Filipino’s daily commute,” she said.