SHARES of Grab have dodged a bullet on the back of confirmation by the management of Chinese food delivery giant Meituan that it is not interested in acquiring foodpanda.

DBS Group Research on Thursday (Nov 30) said that the confirmation from Meituan removes a key overhang from Grab’s stock price, given that the entry of a big player such as Meituan could pose challenges to the Singapore-based super-app operator.

“Grab’s stock price has corrected about 10 per cent in the last two weeks on rumours of Meituan potentially acquiring the foodpanda business, and we expect a relief rally subsequently,” said DBS. It maintained a “buy” call and target price of US$4.26 for Grab.

Meituan’s management disclosed at an investor conference that it was not interested in buying the foodpanda business, a fact the research group has confirmed with Meituan.

DBS added: “In our view, the delivery-only business – excluding Indonesia and Vietnam, where foodpanda does not have a presence – is a sub-scale business, comprising just 5 per cent to 6 per cent of the size of the delivery market in China.”

Founded in 2010, Meituan is now the largest food-delivery platform in China. It posted its fastest revenue growth since 2021 in the quarter ended June, even as its expansion plans in South-east Asia are ongoing.

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Bloomberg reported in November that Meituan was exploring an acquisition deal with Delivery Hero about buying foodpanda, which both parties did not comment on then.

Meanwhile, Grab reported its losses for the third quarter ended September had narrowed to US$99 million, from US$342 million in the same period last year. This translated to a narrower loss per share at US$0.02.

Grab’s monthly transacting users (MTU) grew 7 per cent to 36 million in Q3, from 33.5 million a year earlier. But its gross merchandise value per MTU fell 2 per cent year on year, to US$148 from US$151.