AirAsia’s Teleport to acquire Delivereat for US$9.8 mil in a cash & shares deal

• Husband and wife founders of Delivereat have footprint in Penang & Klang Valley
• Deal puts US$300mil valuation on Teleport which has not received external funding

Teleport, airasia digital’s logistics venture, has signed an agreement to acquire local Malaysian online food delivery platform Delivereat in a deal valued at US$9.8 million to be satisfied with a combination of cash and mainly shares. The deal in turn puts a valuation of US$300 million on the 2018 launched Teleport which has not received any external funding and welcomes Delivereat’s investors, including venture capital firm Gobi Partners onboard.

As part of the acquisition, Delivereat’s husband-wife founders, Leong Shir Mein (pic, left) and Tan Suan Sear (pic, right), who launched in 2012 in Penang, will be joining the management team at Teleport and airasia digital.

Leveraging on AirAsia’s network, Teleport’s ambition is to deliver door-to-door in under 24 hours across Southeast Asia. With a footprint in Penang and the Klang Valley in Selangor, the Delivereat acquisition will strengthen Teleport’s service in both those locales.

Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia Group said, “We are truly excited about this partnership as it supports our strategy to continue to serve the underserved and become the best value delivery company in Asean, on the ground and in the air. At the same time, it strengthens airasia digital’s plan to cover the end-to-end logistics chain, from first mile to last mile deliveries, providing a complete digital ecosystem. This acquisition comes at an opportune time, as we launched Airasia food in Penang in April this year, where Delivereat was conceived.”

Pete Chareonwongsak, CEO of Teleport said, “We are all-in when it comes to delivering everything in under 24 hours and from anywhere in our core markets, which is our bet on what the future of e-commerce logistics holds in the region; faster, hyperlocal and on-demand. Importantly, we are the only last mile delivery provider that owns an airline.”

Meanwhile Leong and Tan, of Delivereat add, “With close to a decade of on-ground experience in the food and on-demand delivery space, we are excited to join forces with Teleport to spur our growth. We are proud to now be a part of another homegrown brand, one that has revolutionised its industry with unprecedented success. Our goal is to use our strong synergy with Teleport from this merger to emulate the same.” 

Thomas G. Tsao, Chairman and cofounder of Gobi Partners said, “I met Leong and Tan at their favourite noodle shop back in 2016. They convinced me that a startup from Penang - a local food haven - could take on the international giants and win. Delivereat will now bring their value proposition to an even larger market through this combination with Teleport. Gobi is extremely proud to have been a part of Delivereat’s journey, and we are excited to be long term strategic partners with Teleport and Airasia digital as they reinvent regional logistics.”

Since its launch in 2012, Delivereat has grown to deliver more than one million orders to date, and offers food and express delivery services on an on-demand basis from more than 4,000 merchants (consisting of restaurants, wet markets, pharmacies and groceries), carried out by its fleet of up to 4,000 registered delivery partners. Delivereat claims to have the largest selection of hawkers in Penang with up to 1,000 hawkers, and is the first to allow customers to combine multiple orders within the same delivery.

Subject to final approvals, Teleport expects the transaction to close by Q3 2021.