Grab to buy 60% of Atome Financial for $1.49B in consumer lending push

Grab Holdings has agreed to acquire a 60% stake in Atome Financial for $1.49 billion in cash, a deal that would significantly expand the Southeast Asian superapp’s consumer lending business and add Atome’s AI-powered credit underwriting capabilities. The transaction, announced on Sept 15, covers Atome’s operations in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, according to Grab's release. [caption id="attachment_175206" align="alignright" width="300"] (Courtesy/TechCrunch.Com)[/caption] Atome offers buy now, pay later loans, consumer cash loans, BNPL cards and other digital lending products and has served 25 million users. Its gross loan portfolio stands at about $1 billion. Grab said combining Atome’s lending infrastructure with data from its broader ecosystem could improve credit underwriting while opening Atome’s products to Grab’s nearly 54 million monthly users, according to the release. The initial transaction includes $260 million in primary growth capital and is expected to close by the third quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals. Grab has also agreed to acquire the remaining 40% roughly two years later under a performance-based valuation formula. The acquisition comes as lending is becoming a larger part of Grab’s financial services business. In the second quarter, Grab's financial services revenue jumped 59% from a year earlier to $134 million, while total loans disbursed rose 72% to a record $1.2 billion. Financial services remained loss-making on a segment adjusted EBITDA-basis in the quarter, but the loss narrowed to $15 million from $26 million a year earlier. With Atome included, Grab now expects its financial services segment to generate $500 million in adjusted EBITDA and operate a gross loan portfolio exceeding $6 billion by 2028, according to the release. FinAi Lending Summit, set for Oct. 7-8 in Las Vegas, will include speakers from Fifth Third and Capital One as well as a fireside chat with U.S. Bank Senior Vice President – Lending Operations Group Manager Suzanne Rathbun . To learn more about the 2026 event and register, visit here.

Grab to buy 60% of Atome Financial for $1.49B in consumer lending push

Deal adds Atome’s AI-powered underwriting platform, $1B loan portfolio to Grab

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Grab to buy 60% of Atome Financial for $1.49B in consumer lending push

Deal adds Atome’s AI-powered underwriting platform, $1B loan portfolio to Grab

OpenAI reports new AI safety incidents, sets disclosure plan

5 questions with … Kasper Tjorntved Davidsen, CAIO and head of AI at Danske Bank

Related Posts

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