KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — Grab is reportedly buying Malaysian premium grocery store chain, Jaya Grocer. According to sources, it is acquiring the business for RM1.5 billion to RM1.8 billion. This happened after Jaya Grocer’s founder, the Teng family, reportedly had bought back its entire stake in Jaya Grocer late last month from AIGF Advisors.

Grab has entered into a share purchase agreement (SPA) with the current shareholders of the grocery chain to buy all of the ordinary shares and 75 per cent of its preference shares. Ordinary shares are the common type of share issues to founders and employees, while preference shares are issued shares to investors wanting to secure their return.

Grab then said it would have the option to buy the remaining 25 per cent of the preference shares after the closing of the transaction. For local regulatory purposes, Grab also intends to "partner with a local investor”, which will own 50 per cent of the voting shares in Jaya Grocer.

Previously, the Teng family managed to buy back their entire stake in Jaya Grocer from AIGF Advisors. AIGF said that its initial investment in Jaya Grocer back in 2016 was "part of the fund’s strategy of identifying and investing in companies with strong potential”. They have since expanded from just over 10 stores to more than 40 today.

The sale back to the Teng family gave them ownership of the entire shareholding of Jaya Grocer. It also allowed them the flexibility to "implement their strategic plans for their consolidated shareholding”.

Now that Grab is buying out Jaya Grocer, it could be planning to expand the premium grocery chain out of Malaysia. Grab, a company that provides its services in Southeast Asian countries (Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam), debuted on Nasdaq just earlier this month. — SoyaCincau