Lyft stated it’s acquiring mobility platform FreeNow, giving the ridehailing firm its first main presence in Europe after years of working completely within the US and Canada.
FreeNow aggregates taxis alongside personal autos, together with luxurious rides. The acquisition of FreeNow practically doubles Lyft’s potential market and can aide the corporate because it seeks to compete with the dominant participant in ridehailing, Uber. Whereas Lyft oversees a number of bikeshare manufacturers in Europe, together with Santander Cycles in London, it has but to increase its ridehailing operation past North American borders.
“We’re on an formidable path to construct the perfect, most customer-obsessed mobility platform on the earth, and coming into Europe is a crucial step in our progress journey,” stated Lyft CEO David Risher in a press release.
“Coming into Europe is a crucial step in our progress journey.”
FreeNow operates in over 150 European cities, together with Dublin, London, Athens, Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid, and Hamburg, with luxurious autos making up a good portion of its fleet. Taxis accounted for roughly 90 % of the corporate’s gross bookings in 2024, which Lyft says will proceed to be the “spine” of its enterprise. The corporate stated in September it had achieved break-even standing, on the again of a 13 % year-on-year improve in 2024 income and its give attention to taxi operations, in accordance with Reuters.
Lyft is shopping for FreeNow from its guardian firms, BMW and Mercedes-Benz for €175 million ($198.40 million). The corporate emerged from a $1 billion mobility deal between BMW and Daimler again in 2019 aimed toward creating new entities targeted on autonomous vehicles, ride-hailing, electrical scooters, car-sharing, and electrical automotive charging. Along with FreeNow, there was ReachNow for multimodal providers; ChargeNow for EV charging; ParkNow for parking; and ShareNow for car-sharing.
FreeNow will hold its personal branding, however the firms say {that a} future rebranding is feasible.
“Over time, the businesses will give attention to integration and any adjustments will likely be gradual, respectful, and made in session with acceptable stakeholders,” Lyft spokesperson Stephanie Rice stated in an e mail.