Talks of a possible merger between Southeast Asia’s two greatest tech super-apps, Seize and GoTo, have as soon as once more captured the area’s consideration.
The 2 corporations—long-time rivals in ride-hailing, meals supply, and digital funds—have held on-and-off talks since early 2024, however this time, momentum seems to be constructing with the Indonesian authorities’s sovereign wealth fund, Danantara, stepping in to facilitate talks aimed toward making a regional tech large.
If the merger goes forward, Danantara may obtain a minority stake within the mixed entity, together with particular rights over its Indonesian operations.
However behind the headlines lies a much bigger query: has Southeast Asia’s super-app dream peaked?
Each Seize and GoTo spent years racing to dominate each nook of customers’ digital lives, fueled by billions in enterprise capital and a growth-at-all-costs technique.
However investor persistence has worn skinny after years of heavy money burn and unprofitable operations. Reasonably than a transfer to develop, the potential merger seems like a truce between rivals—a method to cease competing, not begin rising.
A near-monopoly in Southeast Asia
Each Seize and GoTo have spent the previous decade battling for a similar prospects in overlapping markets.
A merger would enable them to cease competing head-to-head and obtain near-monopoly positions in ride-hailing, controlling nearly 90% of Singapore’s market and greater than 91% in Indonesia, in keeping with Euromonitor Worldwide.
Analysts say the deal would deliver speedy scale benefits. The mixed group may consolidate driver and service provider networks, reduce duplicate advertising and know-how prices, rationalise incentives, and extract working leverage throughout their companies.
These efficiencies would lengthen past ride-hailing throughout their different verticals, doubtlessly placing stress on rivals like Shopee, Lazada, and digital banking platforms.
And this issues as a result of each corporations have been below stress to display sustainable profitability, significantly after going public. Seize and GoTo had a mixed market worth of US$72 billion at their 2021 and 2022 listings.
Since then, shares have tumbled—Seize down greater than 50% and GoTo over 80%, largely because of fierce regional competitors. Most lately, GoTo shareholders, together with SoftBank, even reportedly pushed for the elimination of its CEO amid declining share costs.
Each corporations have additionally confronted years of losses. Though Seize lately posted its fourth consecutive worthwhile quarter in Q3 2025, that revenue was pushed not by fast development or new prospects, however at tighter price administration and extra disciplined incentive spending.
GoTo additionally endured multi-year losses earlier than turning worthwhile on an adjusted foundation in 2024, following job cuts and stringent cost-cutting measures, together with the downsizing and majority sale of its loss-making e-commerce unit, Tokopedia, to ByteDance’s TikTok to the tune of roughly US$1.5 billion.
However whether or not they can proceed this momentum will depend upon how these two corporations navigate shifting development fashions and handle intense market competitors, particularly as customers within the area are spending extra cautiously amid excessive inflation and rising rates of interest—a merger may provide a method to stabilise operations and scale back aggressive pressures.
The trail to a merger isn’t so easy
However the path forward isn’t simple.
Whereas the merger may ship important operational efficiencies and scale benefits for each corporations, it raises considerations for customers and the broader market.
An educational from Universitas Airlangga in Indonesia cautioned that the mixed entity may exploit its dominance to set costs at customers’ expense.
“The Seize–GoTo merger opens the door to predatory pricing,” he stated. “They might begin by slashing costs, capitalising on improved effectivity. This is able to remove rivals, and as soon as they dominate the market, they may freely set costs at customers’ expense.”
Furthermore, the dimensions of the merged entity could be unprecedented throughout a number of industries, far past Seize’s earlier concentrate on Singapore and native consolidation.
Proof from previous offers highlights the dangers. As an example, the Competitors and Client Fee of Singapore (CCCS), Singapore’s competitors watchdog, discovered that Seize raised costs by 10–15%, altered its rewards scheme, and decreased incentives for drivers following its merger with Uber in 2018.
The watchdog decided the deal anti-competitive, and issued a mixed fantastic of S$13 million to each events. Seize was additionally required to take away exclusivity obligations on its drivers and taxi fleets.
Equally, Seize’s proposed acquisitions of taxi firm Trans-Cab and supply platform foodpanda had been both blocked or deserted following regulatory scrutiny.
The Trans-Cab deal, as an example, was deemed more likely to create boundaries for rival platforms, doubtlessly elevating prices for each drivers and passengers. In consequence, Seize in the end pursued its personal taxi license, ultimately coming into the inustry as GrabCab. In the meantime, the foodpanda acquisition was dropped after a CCCS probe in February 2024, which raised related competitors considerations.
The Seize-GoTo merger may fall by way of if competitors watchdogs increase considerations much like these seen in these earlier consolidation offers. To mitigate regulatory pushback, the ride-hailing corporations are reportedly in discussions to supply Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund, Danantara, a “golden share” within the merged entity.
A golden share is a particular sort of fairness that grants its holder distinctive rights, usually together with the flexibility to veto key choices or shield nationwide pursuits.
On this case, it will apply solely to the Indonesian operations, giving Danantara the ability to safeguard authorities priorities whereas permitting the merged entity to function throughout the broader area.
Making a US$29 billion tech large
It stays to be seen if the merger will undergo, given these considerations.
But when permitted, it will create a Southeast Asian tech large value US$29 billion, combining mobility, supply, e-commerce, and fintech operations below one umbrella. The merger would additionally characterize probably the most complicated company integration in Southeast Asia’s tech historical past.
This consists of aligning company cultures and integrating overlapping models like GrabPay/GoPay and Tokopedia/GrabMart, in addition to managing hyper-local driver, service provider, and person ecosystems throughout totally different nations.
As well as, client blowback to the potential creation of an efficient monopoly over such on a regular basis companies may very well be monumental.
Technical hurdles round separate cloud architectures, information localisation legal guidelines, AI techniques, and regulatory compliance may also decide whether or not the merger delivers true efficiencies or collapses into expensive integration chaos.
- Learn different articles we’ve written on Singaporean companies right here.
Featured Picture Credit score: Anggun Dangerous Darmawan/ Shutterstock.com
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