Updates with further details and background from paragraph 2 onwards
March 19 (Reuters) - Indonesia's GoTo Gojek GOTO.JK on Wednesday reiterated that there was no agreement with any party about a potential transaction after a media report emerged that Singapore-headquartered Grab GRAB.O was moving forward to buy it.
Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday that U.S.-listed ride and delivery firm Grab had begun due diligence on its Indonesian rival, citing people familiar with the matter.
Grab's shares rose 5.4% premarket on Tuesday and later pared gains to end the day 3.4% in the green. GoTo, which operates the ride-hailing and food delivery platform Gojek, ended 5% higher on Tuesday.
The merger talks between Grab, which is backed by Uber UBER.N, and GoTo have been on-and-off but have not resulted in a deal, primarily due to competition concerns over the two major players in Southeast Asia merging.
"The company and its management continue to focus on business activities and achieving good performance," GoTo said on Wednesday.
GoTo, in early February, addressed market rumours by saying that it does not have any material corporate action plans for the next 12 months other than the implementation of share buybacks.
Grab did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
((Rishav.Chatterjee@thomsonreuters.com))
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