Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang. Photo credit: World Economic Forum / Greg Beadle, under Creative Commons license

Chinese technology giant Alibaba is in discussions to invest $3 billion into Grab, the Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant, according to a report [paywall] from Bloomberg. According to Bloomberg, Alibaba is looking to pony up cash for a fresh stake in Grab as well as acquire some shares in the company in a secondary transaction from Uber, the US-based ride-hailing giant. Uber is a significant shareholder in Grab, having gotten hold of a 27.5% stake in Grab (as of 2018 when the deal was closed) after selling its Southeast Asian operations to the company. Since then, Grab has raised additional billions in funding, with Uber’s stake diluted as a result. The current Grab percentage held by Uber isn’t known.

Grab is one of the most capitalized startups in Southeast Asia and globally at large. To date, the Singapore-based company, which was founded in 2012, has raised $10 billion in funding from a host of investors including notable names like Microsoft, SoftBank, and Korean automaker Hyundai. A $3 billion bet on Grab will represent yet another big addition to the company’s cash coffers and also one of the biggest investments by Alibaba in Southeast Asia. In the past, Alibaba has made big bets on several companies in Southeast Asia including the likes of Lazada and Tokopedia, both e-commerce companies.

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