Swvl buys on-demand bus service Shotl - source

Swvl Holdings

18/08/2021 14:00

Aug 18 (Reuters) - Dubai-based transport startup Swvl has
agreed to buy Shotl, an Uber-like service for bus and van
operators that caters to municipalities, corporations and
educational institutions, a source familiar with the matter told
Reuters.
    Founded in Egypt in 2017, Swvl also operates a digital
platform that allows passengers to reserve and pay for rides
with bus operators along fixed routes.
    The source, who refused to be identified because the talks
are not public yet, did not disclose the financial terms of the
deal.
    The deal is the latest in the transport technology sector
globally as companies look to add heft or raise money through
public listings.
    Grab, Southeast Asia's biggest ride hailing-to-food delivery
group, is gearing to go public through a merger worth nearly $40
billion with a blank check firm. Chinese ride hailing company
Didi Global Inc  DIDI.N  also raised $4.4 billion in its U.S.
initial public offering in June.
    Swvl last month agreed to merge with blank check firm
Queen's Gambit Growth Capital  GMBT.O , setting the stage for a
Nasdaq listing in the fourth quarter of this year.
    The company currently operates in 10 cities in six countries
and makes more than 3 million trips a month, a number it aims to
increase to 2 million a day by 2025.
    Barcelona-based Shotl will serve as Swvl's hub in Europe and
more than double the company's geographic footprint, according
to the source. Shotl operates in 22 cities across 10 countries,
including Brazil and Japan.
    The deal also provides Swvl with an entry point into
autonomous driving projects, primarily through Shotl's
participation in a project led by the European Commission to
demonstrate the impact of self-driving minibuses on the future
public transport networks.
    Swvl expects to turn its first profit in 2024, its chief
financial officer Youssef Salem told Reuters earlier this month.
    Swvl, which has a network of 5,000 buses, 3,000 of which are
in Egypt, also expects to expand into other activities such as
logistics, advertising and financial services beginning in 2023.
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 (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by
Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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