Grab is paying 12% of its market value in cash for control of Atome Financial
Grab is paying $1.49 billion in cash for 60% of the Singapore lender Atome Financial. The remaining 40% will be priced later by a formula that cannot cost it less than $800 million or more than $1.8 billion.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- Grab has agreed to buy 60% of Atome Financial for $1.49 billion in cash, of which $260 million is injected into the lender as primary growth capital, with closing expected by the third quarter of 2027.
- Grab separately agreed to buy the remaining 40% about two years after the first closing, at a price not yet fixed but bounded by an equity valuation floor of $2 billion and a cap of $4.5 billion.
- Atome Financial reported $470 million of revenue in 2025, up about 80% year on year, and a second consecutive year of pre-tax profit, on a gross loan portfolio of roughly $1 billion across five markets.
- Grab's financial services segment is the only loss-making one of its three verticals, with adjusted EBITDA losses of $17 million in the first quarter of 2026 and $15 million in the second.
Why it matters
- What it costs cost The purchase comes out of existing cash rather than new stock. Shareholders in a company worth about $12.4 billion are funding roughly an eighth of that market value into a lender instead of seeing the cash held or returned.
- What it limits constraint The floor commits Grab to at least $800 million more around 2029, half of it in cash, however Atome's loan book performs between now and then.
- Who's exposed exposure Consolidating 60% of a consumer lender puts Atome's credit provisions inside the segment Grab has promised will earn $500 million by 2028. The guidance now depends on underwriting Grab does not do itself.
- What doesn't add up contradiction Crypto Briefing's "north of $2 billion" figure is the floor of the second-leg formula. The price actually paid for 60% implies about $2.48 billion, and the gap decides which side the floor protects.
Next story · Invest · 2d ago
ID Finance raised 2.2 times its 2025 revenue for a lending app with 400,000-plus customersConfirmed2 publishers
Grab and Advance Intelligence Group did not fix a price for the last 40%. They agreed to 13 times annualised adjusted EBITDA weighted at 75%, plus 2.5 times annualised revenue weighted at 25%, measured on Atome's performance in the six months before the second closing [7][22]. Applied to a 40% stake, the $2 billion floor costs Grab $800 million and the $4.5 billion cap costs $1.8 billion [30], putting the all-in price for the whole company between $2.29 billion and $3.29 billion [31].
Atome's 2025 revenue of $470 million [9] contributes about $294 million to the blend. That leaves the EBITDA leg to supply the rest: roughly $175 million of annualised adjusted EBITDA to reach the floor on merit, and about $431 million to reach the cap [32][33]. The companies did not disclose Atome's EBITDA. Unless revenue grows a long way from here, the cap is theoretical and the floor is what Grab pays, at least half of it in cash [8].
The floor is a thin discount. Paying $1.49 billion for 60% implies about $2.48 billion for the whole equity, or $24.8 million per percentage point, while the floor implies $20 million a point, 81% of the first-leg price [26][34]. Crypto Briefing described the transaction as valuing Atome at "north of $2 billion" [20]. That figure is the floor.
Grab's stated reason is speed. "Atome Financial gives us a proven consumer lending operator and an established merchant base, letting us scale our financial services segment significantly faster and more cost-efficiently than building it ourselves," chief financial officer Peter Oey said [3]. After the primary injection, about $1.23 billion of the consideration is cash out to Atome's existing shareholders [21].
Mobility produced $191 million of segment adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter of 2026 and deliveries $96 million [12]. Fintech, including Atome, is now supposed to produce $500 million a year by 2028 [13]. That would be 29% of the $1.7 billion group adjusted EBITDA Grab guides to for that year [15][35]. The loan book has to grow: $1.44 billion at Grab in the first quarter of 2026 plus roughly $1 billion at Atome is $2.44 billion, against a combined target above $6 billion. That is about $3.56 billion of new lending [28]. In July, Atome's Philippine unit took a 5 billion peso wholesale facility from Asia United Bank to fund its PayLater Anywhere Card [24].
Consolidation puts Atome's credit provisions inside Grab's financial services segment, still run by Atome's own management [16]. I'd expect credit performance to decide whether $1.49 billion was well spent, because the 2028 target now leans on someone else's loan book. Atome grew revenue about 80% in 2025 and has two consecutive years of pre-tax profit [9]. If that rate survives to the second closing, the cap binds and Grab pays $1.8 billion for the last 40%. The formula saves it money. Annualised adjusted EBITDA anywhere near $431 million would settle the argument against me [33].
Crypto Briefing reports that GoTo has been building financial services through GoPay and Bank Jago, and that Sea Limited has been expanding lending across Shopee and SeaMoney [36]. That account puts no size on either position. So the case for a regional buying race rests on Grab's own spending: $425 million for 50.1% of Stash Financial and $600 million for Foodpanda's Taiwan business before this one [25]. The distribution logic compares two different measures, Atome's 25 million cumulative transacted users and 30,000 brands [11] against Grab's nearly 54 million monthly transacting users [4].
What to watch
- Whether Grab discloses Atome's adjusted EBITDA before the second closing, since that figure sets the price of the remaining 40%.
- Regulatory approvals across Atome's five operating markets ahead of the third-quarter 2027 close.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence74
- Adoption55
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives68
- Confidence70
Perspective Coverage
5 publishers- Builder
- Builder 13%
- Operator
- Operator 34%
- Investor
- Investor 53%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Grab has agreed to acquire a 60% stake in Atome Financial for $1.49 billion in cash.
- [2]
Of the $1.49 billion consideration, $260 million will be injected into Atome Financial as primary growth capital.
- [3]
"Atome Financial gives us a proven consumer lending operator and an established merchant base, letting us scale our financial services segment significantly faster and more cost-efficiently than building it ourselves," Grab chief financial officer Peter Oey said.
- [4]
The companies said the combination would pair Atome Financial's AI-based underwriting infrastructure with Grab's ecosystem data, giving Atome access to Grab's nearly 54 million monthly transacting users.
- [5]
The transaction is expected to close by the third quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
- [6]
Grab has separately agreed with Advance Intelligence Group Limited and other shareholders to acquire the remaining 40% of Atome Financial approximately two years after the first transaction is completed.
- [7]
The price of the second leg has not been fixed and will be calculated using Atome Financial's performance in the six months preceding the second closing.
- [8]
At least half of the consideration for the remaining 40% stake will be paid in cash.
- [9]
Atome Financial posted revenue of $470 million in 2025, up about 80% year on year, and delivered its second consecutive year of pre-tax profit.
- [10]
Atome Financial operates across Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, offering BNPL, consumer cash loans, BNPL cards and other digital lending products.
- [11]
Atome Financial has served 25 million cumulative transacted users, built a gross loan portfolio of about $1 billion, and has a merchant network spanning more than 30,000 brands.
- [12]
In the second quarter of 2026, Grab's mobility segment recorded $191 million in segment adjusted EBITDA and deliveries contributed $96 million, while financial services remained $15 million in the red; fintech is the only loss-making unit of Grab's three main verticals.
- [13]
Grab expects its fintech arm, including Atome Financial, to generate $500 million in adjusted EBITDA by 2028, with a combined gross loan portfolio exceeding $6 billion.
- [14]
Grab is funding the initial acquisition entirely from its existing cash and expects the transaction to be accretive to group adjusted EBITDA upon completion.
- [15]
Grab now expects group adjusted EBITDA to reach $1.7 billion in 2028, with revenue growing at a compound annual rate of more than 30% between 2025 and 2028.
- [16]
Following the deal, Grab will consolidate Atome Financial into its financial services segment, while the fintech's existing management team will continue to run the business.
- [17]
Grab's gross loan portfolio reached $1.44 billion as of the first quarter of 2026.
- [18]
Grab's financial services segment posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $17 million in the first quarter of 2026.
- [19]
Grab shares were trading around $3.02 at the time the deal surfaced, putting market capitalisation near $12.4 billion after a 39% decline in 2026.
- [20]
Crypto Briefing wrote that the acquisition values Atome Financial at "north of $2 billion".
- [21]
After the $260 million primary injection, about $1.23 billion of the consideration is cash out to Atome's existing shareholders.
- [22]
Under the agreed formula, Atome will be valued using a 13x multiple of annualised adjusted EBITDA and a 2.5x multiple of annualised revenue, weighted at 75% and 25% respectively.
- [23]
The resulting equity valuation will have a floor of $2 billion and a cap of $4.5 billion.
- [24]
In July, Atome Financial's Philippine unit secured a 5-billion-peso wholesale funding facility from Asia United Bank to finance the expansion of its PayLater Anywhere Card.
- [25]
Grab previously acquired an initial 50.1% stake in Stash Financial for $425 million and Foodpanda's Taiwan operations for $600 million, taking its committed acquisitions past $2.5 billion.
- [26]
Paying $1.49 billion for 60% implies about $2.48 billion for the whole of Atome's equity on a simple pro-rata basis.
- [27]
The $1.49 billion cash purchase equals about 12% of Grab's market capitalisation of roughly $12.4 billion.
- [28]
Grab's $1.44 billion loan portfolio plus Atome's roughly $1 billion is about $2.44 billion, some $3.56 billion short of the combined target above $6 billion.
- [29]
Grab's financial services segment loss narrowed by $2 million between the first quarter of 2026 ($17 million) and the second ($15 million).
- [30]
The $2 billion floor prices the remaining 40% at $800 million and the $4.5 billion cap prices it at $1.8 billion.
- [31]
Grab's total cost for 100% of Atome lands between $2.29 billion and $3.29 billion.
- [32]
At 2025 revenue of $470 million, the revenue leg contributes about $294 million of blended value, so reaching the $2 billion floor on the formula requires about $175 million of annualised adjusted EBITDA.
- [33]
On 2025 revenue, reaching the $4.5 billion cap would require about $431 million of annualised adjusted EBITDA.
- [34]
Grab paid about $24.8 million per percentage point of Atome equity in the first leg, while the $2 billion floor implies $20 million a point, or 81% of that price.
- [35]
A $500 million fintech adjusted EBITDA in 2028 would be about 29% of the $1.7 billion group adjusted EBITDA Grab guides to for that year.
- [36]
Crypto Briefing reports that GoTo has been building its own financial services capabilities through GoPay and Bank Jago, and that Sea Limited, which operates Shopee and SeaMoney, has been expanding digital banking and lending products across the region.
Sources
5 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- asia.nikkei.comGrab to buy Singapore-based Atome Financial for $1.49bn to boost consumer lending - Nikkei Asia
1 article · September 15, 2026
- cnbc.comGrab aims for 'next level' in financial services with purchase of buy-now pay-later platform Atome
1 article · September 15, 2026
- cryptobriefing.comGrab acquires 60% of Atome Financial for $1.49B to expand lending across Southeast Asia
1 article · September 15, 2026
- dealstreetasia.comGrab to buy 60% of Atome Financial for $1.49b, eyes full ownership
1 article · September 15, 2026
- pymnts.comGrab Enters BNPL Space With $1.4 Billion Atome Acquisition
2 articles · September 15, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Consumer Credit Underwriting
- Buy Now, Pay Later
- Superapp Platforms
- Tech M&A and Acqui-hires
- Southeast Asia Fintech
Entities
- Advance Intelligence Group
- Asia United Bank