Mytaxi and Union Square Ventures-backed Hailo Merge

7/26/16

mytaxi and Hailo, two innovative leaders in the field of taxi e-hailing, are joining forces and creating Europe’s largest taxi e-hailing company with 70 million passengers and 100.000 registered taxi drivers in over 50 cities across nine countries.

The geographic footprint of the two companies is very complementary. Hailo operates in the UK, Ireland, and Spain, while mytaxi is available in Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

The newly formed company will operate under the mytaxi brand and will rebrand all Hailo operations in UK, Ireland, and Spain by mid 2017. Andrew Pinnington will be appointed CEO of the new company. Niclaus Mewes, founder of mytaxi, is taking a seat on the board and will play a central role in the integration and strategic development of the new company. The company’s head office will be in Hamburg,Germany.

“The joining of mytaxi and Hailo is another strategic step in making us a leader of mobility solutions and platforms. By providing mobility at your fingertips, customers can enjoy various forms of mobility with a transparent overview and easy to pay services. This investment is in addition to the nearly 500 million Euros we’ve already invested in building mobility platforms and services over the last years. We are prepared to make further strategic investments as we continuously build our mobility eco-system.” said Klaus Entenmann, Chairman of Daimler Financial Services AG.

“By combining Hailo and mytaxi, we have created the largest European taxi e-Hailing company. We bring together world class technology, an iconic brand, high quality people and the financial backing of our shareholders”, said Andrew Pinnington, CEO designate of mytaxi.

Niclaus Mewes, founder of mytaxi, said: “Hailo and mytaxi are both market leaders in the countries we operate. Together we are even stronger and we look forward to further innovative transport and mobility solutions as we provide compelling offers for both drivers and passengers.”

The announcement of the proposed combined business is subject to the approval of the European Regulatory Authorities and a decision is expected in the next weeks.

LionTree Advisors acted as financial advisor to Hailo in connection with the transaction.

About mytaxi

The German based mobile App mytaxi is the world`s first taxi app with a direct connection between the passenger and the driver, founded back in 2009. To date, mytaxi operates with a fleet of over 45,000 taxis and the app has been downloaded over 10 million times. With around 200 employees in thirteen offices, mytaxi is spanning across Germany, Austria, Poland, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Sweden. Since September 2014, mytaxi is a 100% subsidiary of the Daimler Mobility Services GmbH (part of Daimler Group). This acquisition was another important step for mytaxi`s vision, to become the largest and most successful taxi app in Europe. More information is available at www.mytaxi.com

About Hailo

Hailo is the evolution of the hail – a free smartphone app which puts people just two taps away from a licensed vehicle, and lets drivers get more passengers when they want them. The hailo network, with 60,000 drivers and over one million passengers, accepts a hail every two seconds. Launched in November 2011, Hailo is available in London, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, all across Ireland, Madrid, and Barcelona. Hailo has carried over twenty-five million passengers. Founded by three taxi drivers and three internet entrepreneurs, Hailo has raised $100M from the best investors anywhere, including Union Square Ventures, Accel Partners, Wellington Partners, Atomico Ventures and Sir Richard Branson. Hailo is available as a free download from the iTunes App Store and Google Play. Simply search on Hailo. More information is available at www.hailoapp.com

About Daimler

Daimler AG is one of the world’s most successful automotive companies. With its divisions Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses and Daimler Financial Services, the Daimler Group is one of the biggest producers of premium cars and the world’s biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles with a global reach. Daimler Financial Services provides financing, leasing, fleet management, insurance, financial investments, credit cards, and innovative mobility services.

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