Grab Philippines has decided to make a full foray into motorcycle taxi hailing services by buying Move It for under P1 bIllion, senior director for operations and strategy Ronald Roda announced in a press briefing Thursday night, Aug. 4.

However, it is not a Merger and Acquisition (M&A) deal, he clarified. “There's a change in ownership, but there's no merger of operations.”

Move It simply becomes a Grab Philippines subsidiary and retains its brand and separate platform. Francis Juan stays on as Move IT chairman

"Move It is on Grab core business. It's an enhancement of what we're good at," Roda explained.

"We have tens of thousands of riders. We can help Move It go from third player to someone who can compete in the market. We can scale its existing motorcycle taxi partner-riders of less than 1,000 and add at least 6,000 more in three months to maximize its allotment of 7,000."

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In September last year, Grab partnered with Move It, but encountered legal stumblingblocks.

Before 2021 ended, the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) Motorcycle Taxi Technical Working Group (TWG) terminated the partnership for violating provisions of the motorcycle taxi pilot study limiting players to three - Angkas, JoyRide, and Move It.

Effectively, Grab became the fourth “de facto” player when it operated MoveIt via their partnership, training and onboarding the latter's drivers, issuing official receipts, marketing, allowing passengers to book and pay for MoveIt rides via the Grab app.

"It's a DOTr matter," says Grab Philippines director for public affairs Sherielysse Bonifacio. "We have done a thorough due diligence. We have informed the DOTr. We have also informed the Senate and Congress informally."