SINGAPORE — Grab Holdings Limited said it will buy a controlling 60% stake in Atome Financial (Neuroncredit Pte. Ltd.), the digital lending arm of Advance Intelligence Group, for US$1.49 billion in cash — including US$260 million of primary growth capital — in what the company frames as its biggest push yet into Southeast Asian consumer credit.
The cash deal covers Atome’s buy-now-pay-later loans, consumer cash loans, BNPL cards and digital lending across Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. Grab said it will fund Phase 1 from existing cash, consolidate Atome into its Financial Services segment after close, and leave Atome’s management in place. Completion is targeted by the third quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and customary conditions — a long runway for a headline that already reads like a done deal.
A second phase, roughly two years after the first closing, would let Grab buy the remaining 40% under a performance-linked valuation framework with an equity floor of US$2.0 billion and a cap of US$4.5 billion. Atome counts about 25 million cumulative transacted users and more than 30,000 merchant brands, with a gross loan portfolio near US$1 billion as of 30 June 2026, per Grab’s disclosure.
Grab raised its medium-term bar with the deal: Financial Services, including Atome, is now expected to deliver US$500 million of adjusted EBITDA by 2028 on a combined gross loan book above US$6 billion, while group adjusted EBITDA is lifted to US$1.7 billion with revenue CAGR above 30% from 2025 to 2028. President and COO Alex Hungate said Atome’s AI underwriting should help scale Grab’s ecosystem; CFO Peter Oey said the transaction is expected to be accretive to group adjusted EBITDA once completed and will not affect Grab’s share repurchase programme.
Bottom line: The $1.49B / 60% line is the market grabber — the real checklist is multi-market regulatory clearance into Q3 2027, then whether Phase 2 pricing lands nearer the $2.0B floor or the $4.5B ceiling once Atome’s loan book and FS EBITDA prints are public.
*— WWC NEWSDESK*
