Malaysia's AirAsia to buy Gojek's Thai business for $50 million in shares

AirAsia Group said it will buy Indonesian ride-hailing and payments firm Gojek’s Thailand business in a stock swap, giving Gojek a 4.76% stake in the airline’s lifestyle platform. AirAsia will acquire Gojek’s business in return for $50m worth of shares in AirAsia SuperApp, valuing the division at around $1b, more than the pandemic-hit airline’s current market value of $868m at a time when it has been looking to raise more capital. The agreement with the Indonesian startup unicorn comes just a week after AirAsia applied for a digital banking licence in Malaysia, signalling a shift in focus towards digital business as most of its fleet remains grounded amid coronavirus restrictions. “By taking on Gojek’s well-established Thai business, we’ll be able to turbo-charge our ambitions in this space,” AirAsia CE Tony Fernandes said.<br/>