Grab is seeking to enter Taiwan through an acquisition of Foodpanda, but the deal remains under regulatory review. If approved, the transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, though concerns have already emerged over data security, antitrust risks, and Grab's links to Huawei and Uber.
Grab Group COO and managing director Yee Wee Tang traveled to Taiwan on June 9 to address these questions at a press conference. He said Grab has hired an independent third-party cybersecurity consultant in Taiwan to review relevant workflows and management mechanisms and to ensure that future operations in Taiwan fully comply with applicable laws and regulatory requirements.
Speaking on behalf of Grab, Yee said the company would strictly follow Taiwan's laws and regulations if the acquisition is approved. He said Grab is independently operated, expects to compete fairly in Taiwan, and aims to improve overall service quality for partners and consumers. He added that Grab would maintain close communication with regulators and labor unions.
The proposed deal would be the second time Foodpanda's Taiwan business has changed hands. Uber Eats and Foodpanda have long led Taiwan's delivery market, and Uber Eats previously planned to acquire Foodpanda's Taiwan operations, but the Fair Trade Commission blocked the deal on antitrust grounds.
Grab is now the latest potential buyer. Although it is Southeast Asia's leading delivery platform, Uber sold its Southeast Asia business to Grab in 2018 in exchange for about 13.1% of Grab's equity. Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi has also served on Grab's board for years, and Uber holds shares in Foodpanda parent Delivery Hero, adding complexity to the transaction.
Those connections have raised questions about whether common interests could persist even if multiple operators remain on the market in name. This has become one of the key issues under review by the Fair Trade Commission.
Ownership, voting rights, and board ties
Grab said roughly half of its investors are from the US, while the rest are from Japan, the UK, and Singapore. It said that chief executive Anthony Tan holds most of the voting rights, while Uber's voting rights are below 4%, and that Uber does not participate in Grab's day-to-day operations.
Grab also said Uber-affiliated board members have recused themselves from all Taiwan-related board decisions. It added that none of the company's shareholders are Chinese institutional investors with stakes above 5%.
Separately, Grab has launched its own mapping service in recent years and has used high precision as a market differentiator. Previous reports have also suggested the company intends to bring its map platform to Taiwan to improve delivery and ride-hailing efficiency.
However, the Taichung City Delivery Platform Service Industry Union recently questioned whether Grab has extensive technical cooperation and data-sharing ties with Huawei's Petal Maps, and said that related data is stored on Alibaba Cloud, also known as Aliyun. These claims prompted concerns over information security risks.
Data security concerns
Grab has worked frequently with Chinese technology companies. Beyond its cooperation with Huawei, it has also acquired products and services from Chinese robotics technology companies. The company is a partner of Meituan and Ele.me, China's major delivery platforms that mainly provide last-mile delivery services reaching residential communities and office parks. Grab has also invested in Chinese autonomous-driving companies, including Momenta and WeRide Inc.
Those partnerships with Chinese technology firms have stirred market unease. In response, Grab said in a statement that it respects the laws and regulatory requirements of each market. On data security, it said any future operations in Taiwan will comply with relevant data governance rules, cybersecurity requirements, and the Personal Data Protection Act.
On cross-border data storage, Grab said user data related to its Taiwan business is currently stored in data centers outside China, while core operating and infrastructure data are mainly hosted on AWS in Singapore, and that Alibaba Cloud is not used to store such data.
As for its cooperation with Huawei, Grab said those arrangements, both now and in the future, do not cover the Taiwan market. It said the cooperation is limited to Southeast Asian markets, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, and that neither the contract structure nor the technical architecture allows Huawei to access any Taiwan map data through its relationship with Grab.
Article translated by Jingyue Hsiao and edited by Jerry Chen
