By Colin Kellaher
Lyft has agreed to buy European taxi-hailing app FreeNow from German automakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz for about 175 million euros ($197 million) in cash.
Lyft on Tuesday said the deal, which it plans to fund with cash on hand, marks its most significant expansion outside North America and will increase annualized gross bookings by about $1.14 billion.
The San Francisco-based ride-hailing company said FreeNow operates in more than 150 cities across nine European countries, adding that the acquisition nearly doubles its total addressable market to more than 300 billion personal vehicle trips a year.
Lyft said the combined company will operate in 11 countries across Europe, the U.S. and Canada, and that it will focus on integration to allow riders to seamlessly use either app in North America or Europe.
The deal is slated to close in the second half of the year.
BMW and Mercedes, then known as Daimler, in 2019 agreed to combine their mobility businesses in a joint venture funded with an investment of more than $1 billion. The companies in 2022 agreed to sell their Share Now car-sharing service as part of a realignment of the mobility venture.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 16, 2025 08:01 ET (12:01 GMT)
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