KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 18): AirAsia Group Bhd's logistic outfit Teleport is acquiring 100% stake in Delivereat for US$9.8 million (RM41.52 million) in both cash and Teleport shares, as part of its expansion in the online food delivery space.
The acquisition will see Delivereat come under Teleport's umbrella by the end of September, Teleport said.
Under the agreement, Delivereat founders Leong Shir Mein and Tan Suan Sear will join the management team at Teleport and airasia digital, Teleport said in a statement today.
Delivereat is an e-commerce platform that allows customers to combine multiple orders within the same delivery. Established in 2012, it has grown to cover its hometown Penang and the Klang Valley, with over one million orders to date across over 4,000 merchants and 4,000 registered delivery partners.
As part of the deal, Teleport will welcome on board venture capital firm Gobi Partners, which invested in Delivereat in 2017. The deal values Teleport, a unit of airasia digital, at US$300 million.
"This acquisition comes at an opportune time, as we launched airasia food in Penang in April this year, where Delivereat was conceived," said AirAsia group chief executive officer (CEO) Tan Sri Tony Fernandes in the statement.
"With Delivereat joining forces with Teleport, we will be able to drive further growth of fast and affordable delivery transportation options within our key markets as e-commerce continues to surge," he added.
"We are truly excited about this partnership as it supports our strategy to continue to serve the underserved and become the best value delivery company in ASEAN, on the ground and in the air.
"At the same time, it strengthens airasia digital's plan to cover the end-to-end logistics chain, from first mile to last mile deliveries, providing a complete digital ecosystem," Fernandes added.
Teleport CEO Pete Chareonwongsak said the company is bringing an ecosystem of delivery capabilities together so we can efficiently pair on-demand deliveries with same-day courier arrivals, both domestically and cross borders.
This will support local providers, provide the best value and choice to consumers and create more jobs for our delivery partners in the process, he said. Leveraging AirAsia's network, Teleport's ambition is to deliver door-to-door in under 24 hours across Southeast Asia.
"The opportunity to grow our unique logistics ecosystem alongside the passionate team of Delivereat, which has carefully developed an extensive and cost-competitive delivery network over the last nine years, will help Teleport expand as quickly as possible, starting with all major cities in Malaysia, including Penang and Klang Valley and then beyond, across ASEAN," he added.
The acquisition could further strengthen AirAsia's foothold in the food delivery space. Through the airasia super app, the group is already providing online food delivery services in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.
At 4.56pm, shares of AirAsia fell 2.5 sen or 2.94% to 82.5 sen, valuing the aviation group at RM3.22 billion.