SWVL, a Dubai-based provider of transportation and mobility solutions, has terminated its proposed acquisition of Zeelo, a UK-based B2B smart bus operator. The transaction was completed in April of this year and was valued at $100 million.
In a statement issued on Friday, the corporation stated that the decision was made in response to the current turbulence in global financial markets. It further stated that it has previously invested a total of $5,000,000 in the aforementioned firm.
SWVL purchased five global startups in addition to Zeelo. Urbvan, a Mexico-based mass transportation firm, is the most recent addition to its acquisition spree.
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Earlier this month, the Nasdaq-listed company laid off 30% of its workforce as part of its aim to attain profitability by 2023. A month later, it ceased operations in Kenya and Pakistan, as well as suspending a number of routes in Egypt.
SWVL has also established a strategic agreement with City Group Co. KSCP (“City Group”), a premier transport operator and provider of warehouse services in Kuwait, under which City Group will use Swvl’s Software as a Service (“SaaS”) products. Swvl and City Group will collaborate to deliver the best mobility platform for Kuwaiti people, with the goal of making their lives easier. The platform will offer a variety of services, including on-demand, door-to-door, ride hailing, ride sharing, network buses, and school and corporate solutions.
Swvl and City Group will first focus on the creation of a “Citylink Shuttle” launch programme. The programme will feature demand responsive transportation (“DRT”) and other preferred services, with intentions to expand to 100 or more cars in the next six months. Following the successful completion of these phases, Swvl and City Group anticipate launching a thorough platform onboarding of City Group’s remaining vehicles over a mutually agreed-upon time frame.
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“We are excited to partner with City Group to bring next generation of transportation solutions to Kuwait. We are deeply committed to the Kuwaiti transport sector and believe that collectively, we have the unique ability to transform the current offering and customer experience for the benefit of the country’s daily passengers. In the process, we will make mobility more reliable, affordable, and convenient,” Mostafa Kandil, Swvl Founder and CEO, said.
“This partnership is another great example of how Swvl is leveraging strong and rapidly accelerating demand for its SaaS and B2G offerings, in turn facilitating expansion into new, attractive markets. We continue to demonstrate tremendous progress against our business plan goals. This SaaS partnership demonstrates the substantial synergies from our recent acquisitions of a controlling stake in Shotl and door2door, both leading SaaS platforms in Europe,” he added.
SWVL acquisition partnership SWVL acquisition partnership
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh