Ola, the country's largest online cab aggregator, today acquired TaxiForSure for $200 mn in a cash and equity deal. This deal will definitely help Ola further deepen its footprint with TaxiForSure's operator-led model.
The company says that even after acquisition, Ola and TaxiForSure will continue to operate as separate entities. While existing TaxiForSure employees will continue to work with the same company, Arvind Singhal, the current COO, will now operate as the CEO. Furthermore, Aprameya Radhakrishna and Raghunandan G, the founders of TaxiForSure, will contribute in an advisory role for a certain period.
"There is significant complimentary value that this acquisition adds both on the supply and demand side for Ola and TaxiForSure. TaxiForSure follows a different model of supply and distribution by working with cab operators compared to Ola's model of working with driver-entrepreneurs," the company said in a statement.
Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO, Ola, said, "Ola and TaxiForSure share the same vision of revolutionizing urban mobility. TaxiForSure has a great team and they have built a very exciting business in a short time. There's a lot of complementary value in the strategy TaxiForSure has followed. I'm very excited to welcome the TaxiForSure team onboard and look forward to working with them towards realizing our common vision."
Raghunandan G, Co-founder and CEO, TaxiForSure said, "TaxiForSure coming together with Ola will provide us with more opportunity than ever, to do what we do best. Post this acquisition; the combined entity will be strong enough and better capitalized to offer the best value to all our stakeholders, including our customers. This development ensures that industry attractiveness is preserved and the combined entity can race ahead and continue to create unprecedented value for all stakeholders."
