EGYPT – Swvl, a provider of tech-enabled mass transit solutions, has announced the acquisition of Mexico-based Urbvan Mobility Ltd, a shared mobility platform that provides tech-enabled transportation services to Latin America’s second biggest country by population.

Urbvan provides technology-enabled transportation services with the goal of improving both the quality of life and the safety standards of bus travel over long distances.

Swvl’s acquisition of Urbvan, which integrates mobility patterns with a shared car aggregator platform, gives an outstanding chance to accelerate Swvl’s aim of providing safer, faster, smarter, and more affordable mass transportation for everyone, no matter where they live.

Urbvan was formed in 2016 with the goal of using shared mobility to improve people’s lives. The company is present in 18 cities around Mexico, offering solutions for metropolitan routes, intercity routes, private organisations, and private on-demand needs.

Urbvan, like Swvl, is dedicated to offering economical, efficient transit solutions that are free of harassment and other dangerous situations.

“Urbvan was founded on the same principals as Swvl: to address the inefficiencies found in traditional mass transit in many parts of the world,” Mostafa Kandil, Swvl Founder and CEO, said.

“With a significant footprint in Mexico, an impressive suite of Transport as a Service (TaaS) offerings, and strong relationships with local government players, this acquisition reinforces Swvl’s position as a leading provider of safer and more reliable mobility solutions which are required for vulnerable people living in densely populated, challenging markets with vast geographies.”

The transaction provides Swvl enhanced scale which Swvl believes will create substantial value for shareholders in several ways lie driving Swvl’s continued global expansion and deepening penetration in the attractive, densely populated Mexican market and provides a strong foothold for further growth in Latin America among others.

“Swvl and Urbvan share a vision to remodel mass transit to be safer for everyone, no matter their gender or social class, in the most challenging and densely populated urban neighborhoods in Latin America,” Renato Picard, Urbvan Co-Founder and Co-CEO, said.

“We are excited to partner with Swvl as we work to illustrate best-practices for tech-optimized day to day travel in Mexico. This transaction positions Urbvan to leverage Swvl’s global offerings to scale the platform both within the region and beyond.

“We look forward to using our combined capabilities to provide safe, efficient, and affordable shared mobility options across the world.”

João Matos Albino, Urbvan Co-Founder and Co-CEO, said that when looking for new growth opportunities, Swvl emerged as an ideal partner to help Urbvan’s ambition to creating the most efficient and sustainable transportation system in Latin America.

“We have been impressed by Swvl’s experience of rapidly scaling their platform globally while providing best-in-class mobility solutions and ensuring that both employees and users remain a top priority. We look forward to partnering with them on the next step of our journey,” he added.

Youssef Salem, Swvl CFO, said said that the acquisition of Urbvan contributes towards all the key objectives of their recently announced portfolio optimization plan: opportunity to enhance margins, turn cash flow positive in 2023, focus on high profitability segments TaaS and SaaS, expand in higher ticket fare markets and extract more value from our proprietary technology stack.

“Today’s announcement reinforces Swvl’s commitment to back regional champions in the mobility space. Looking ahead, we plan to continue to pursue accretive strategic initiatives to continue expanding best-in-class tech-enabled mass transit solutions in the most challenging markets across the world, where we believe our system can make the greatest difference to people’s daily lives,” he said.

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