The Singapore business daily, citing sources familiar with the matter, said Grab considered the price “too high” given its current objective to start turning in a profit.

Grab will now focus on enhancing its ride-sharing services in Singapore, the report said.

It said that the Frankfurt-listed Delivery Hero was expected to seal a deal to dispose of its foodpanda operations in Malaysia by the end of 2023.

Apart from Malaysia, foodpanda also operates in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

News of the negotiations between Grab and Delivery Hero also raised concerns in Malaysia over the possibility that Grab would get a monopoly in the p-hailing service. This led to calls for the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) to investigate the matter.

BT also quoted Shankaran Nambiar of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research as saying that there was a possible danger that Grab would gain “excessive monopoly” through the acquisition.