Daimler, the German multinational that owns Mercedes-Benz, is making a bet that Uber will not end up dominating Europe's taxi-booking space. Instead, the company seeks to combine the MyTaxi business it bought nearly two years ago with Hailo, a venture-backed UK company that is rivalling Uber in places likes Dublin, London and Barcelona.
The all-share merger deal is reportedly being announced today, according to separate reports (both based on sources) from Sky News and Reuters. We will update this post with additional details when the news is confirmed to us or publicly.
According to the Reuters report, the German carmaker will end up with a majority stake in the combined entity post-transaction.
Hailo has received more than €90 million in funding from the likes of Accel, Union Square Ventures, Atomico, Wellington Partners and Sir Richard Branson.
That is well below other companies operating in this space from these parts: Volkswagen recently invested $300 million in Israel's Gett, while Cabify recently closed a €120 million round from Rakuten and others. Remains to be seen whether Uber manages to crush them all.
Also read:
A tech.eu chat with Hailo founder Jay Bregman (February 2015)
Spain’s Cabify lands $120 million to rival Uber in Latin America and Europe
When it comes to connected car technology, Europe is among the best in class
Copenhagen-based Drivr raises €3 million to help taxi industry fend off Uber and others
Would you like to write the first comment?
Login to post comments