Mobility platforms: Lyft takes over Freenow

The US mobility platform Lyft wants to take over the German provider Freenow and thus expand into the European market. Lyft is paying around 175 million euros (197 million US dollars) for the platform, which is owned by car manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

Freenow will continue its business as before, the companies announced on Wednesday in San Francisco and Hamburg. The company primarily arranges cab rides in over 150 European cities, including Berlin and Hamburg, but also offers car sharing and other mobility services. The sale is expected to be completed in the second half of the year.

"Significant step"

"The collaboration with Lyft is a significant step for Freenow and marks the beginning of a new, exciting phase", says Freenow CEO Thomas Zimmermann. "Lyft's strong customer focus perfectly complements our many years of experience in the cab industry."

Lyft is taking a big step into the European market with the takeover. Founded in 2012, the company is currently only active in the USA and Canada. Lyft arranges car rides as well as bicycles and e-scooters. As Uber's biggest competitor, the company has a market share of around 24 percent in the USA.

"Entering the European market is an important step," says Lyft CEO David Risher. "We have found the perfect partner in Freenow and can learn a lot from the team." While Uber has been aggressively expanding into the German market since 2014, Lyft has always kept a low profile.

Founded as Mytaxi

Freenow was founded in 2009 as Mytaxi and was initially an app for arranging and paying for cab rides in Germany, and later in numerous major European cities. Daimler acquired Mytaxi in 2014 and later integrated it into the mobility platform "Share Now", which was founded together with BMW and has since been wound up.

Freenow recently withdrew from the rental car model established by Uber, leaving the business to its competitors Uber and Bolt. The platforms provide rides to licensed car rental companies with drivers who must have a passenger transport license.

These car rental companies are subject to the Passenger Transportation Act and must meet certain requirements. In practice, there are repeated violations of the law, such as forged licenses. In Berlin and other cities, a data comparison between Uber and the authorities is intended to ensure more order.

With the sale of Freenow to Lyft, Mercedes and BMW are getting rid of another component of their failed mobility platform "Share Now". They had previously sold their joint car-sharing service to competitor Stellantis, which integrated it into its car-sharing subsidiary Free2move. In 2020, there had been rumors that Uber was interested in Freenow.

(vbr)