Kyivstar» has announced the purchase of 97% of the corporate rights of the Ukrainian taxi service Uklon. The company expressed interest in acquiring the service about a year ago, in the spring of 2024.
Although the telecommunications operator did not disclose the amount of the deal, the resource Scroll.media citing its own sources, reports that «Kyivstar» is buying Uklon for $155.2 million. As a reminder, initially Uklon was estimated at $40-80 million, but later talked about the amount of «more than $100 million».
The agreement is expected to be signed by mid-April 2025. The parties have now resolved and agreed on all disputed issues. The only bureaucratic work left to be done is to finalize the agreement. In early February 2025 The AMCU allowed «Kyivstar» to buy Uklon.
Over the past 15 years, Uklon has been an independent business that has developed without attracting external investment. In addition to the online or app-based car ordering service, the company also provides a delivery service.
After the deal closes, Uklon will become part of «Kyivstar». However, the companies will continue to operate as separate businesses. The entire Uklon team, led by Sergiy Gryshkov, will continue to work on developing the company’s products and services in Ukraine and other markets. It is expected that the service will receive investments from the new owner for further development and will be able to enter new markets. The agreement with «Kyivstar» will allow the company to enter the markets where «Veon’s subsidiaries» operate more easily. The parent company «Kyivstar» also has operators in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The four founders of Uklon — Sergiy Smus, Vitaliy Dyatlenko, Victoria Dubrovskaya and Dmitry Dubrovsky — remain in Ukraine and will continue their activities here. In particular, they are investing in Ukrainian Defense Tech through their own fund Nezlamni.
After the deal closes, «Kyivstar» plans to list on the US Nasdaq in the third quarter of 2025. The company intends to develop not only in Ukraine but also in the countries where Veon Group is present.
«Kyivstar» is ready to invest in the development of Uklon, the company has already demonstrated this on the example of the Helsi service, which absorbed a few years earlier.