Lyft has received the required regulatory clearance to finalize its acquisition of the European app-based taxi company Freenow. First announced back in April, Lyft’s approximately $197 million agreement with BMW and Mercedes-Benz allows the company to expand outside of North America for the first time.
Freenow’s service will continue to operate as normal, but Bloomberg reports that users will be prompted to download the Lyft app when travelling in the US or Canada, and vice versa for Lyft riders in one of the nine countries or 180 European cities Freenow currently operates in. Eventually you’ll be able to book a taxi on either app without having to switch.
According to Bloomberg, none of the roughly 600 Freenow employees’ jobs are at risk, and while 50 percent of taxi bookings in Europe apparently still happen offline, the new partners believe there is a desire for that to shift more towards an online majority. In 2024, taxis accounted for 90 percent of Freenow’s income and they will remain the “backbone” of its business going forward.
As well as seamless app integration in the future, Freenow said in April that riders can expect more consistent pricing, faster matching and new features as a result of the Lyft acquisition. Lyft is the second-largest ride-hailing company in the US, trailing Uber, and has been looking to introduce more autonomous vehicles into its network from 2025 onwards after partnering with Mobileye and several other companies last year.
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