Hailo merges with mytaxi as Daimler takes on Uber

Daimler’s mytaxi said it will merge with British rival Hailo in an all-share deal, creating Europe’s largest smartphone-based taxi-hailing business.

Unlike US-based ride hailing start-up Uber, which established itself to compete against taxi companies, the new company will operate using taxi firms.

It is the latest push by traditional carmakers to enter the taxi ride hailing services market dominated by Uber and other technology companies. The companies declined to disclose financial terms.

“It’s a paper deal. Daimler will own 60% of the new entity and the stakeholders in Hailo will own 40%,” said Hailo chief executive Andrew Pinnington, who will be chief of the combined company.

The merged entity will operate under the mytaxi brand.

It will have 70m passengers and 100,000 registered taxi drivers in over 50 cities across nine countries in Europe, the companies said.

In similar deals this year, Volkswagen took a $300m (€273m) stake in Gett, and General Motors invested $500m in Lyft.

Hailo, which operates here, in Britain, and Spain, will combine with mytaxi, which is available in Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.

The combined company will be headquartered in Hamburg in Germany.

Mytaxi founder Niclaus Mewes will take a seat on the supervisory board and, in addition, he will become managing director of Daimler Mobility Services.