(Reuters) - Uber's robust growth in Brazil, its biggest market outside the United States, has given the ride-hailing app a far stronger position than it had in Asian markets that it recently exited, a senior executive said on a visit to South America.
In a telephone interview with Reuters, Andrew Macdonald, who runs operations in Latin America, played down the prospects for a merger with Brazilian rival 99, a subsidiary of Didi Chuxing, which absorbed Uber's Chinese operations in late 2016.
Macdonald also runs Uber's operations in the Asia Pacific region, where the company agreed to sell its Southeast Asian business to larger rival Grab last month.
"I think the scale (of operations in Brazil) is at a level that is different from those other markets ... both on an absolute and relative basis," Macdonald said, when asked if there could be a merger or acquisition in Brazil next.
"We're really not focused on M&A," he said.
His comments suggested Uber is ready to stand and fight in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America, where it has a head start on rivals, rather than beating another strategic retreat.
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