At the end of December 2024, mobile operator «Kyivstar» submitted an application to the AMCU for the acquisition of the Uklon taxi service. On February 6, the regulator approved the acquisition. Thus, «Kyivstar» received permission to acquire control over «UKLON LTD» and LLC «Tech Uklon», «Uklon Corporation», «Uklon Ukraine». This is stated in the statement Pavel Kirilenko, the head of the AMCU.
The Committee determined that such an acquisition would not lead to structural changes in any of the three product markets involved (online advertising, organization of passenger car transportation and goods delivery services).
In the previous article, we found out why «Kyivstar» should buy a taxi service. Now let’s look at what benefits Uklon will get from the sale.
It’s worth noting that Uklon is the leader in the Ukrainian taxi market in terms of the number of orders. The company spent about 10 years fighting the American Uber service and later the Estonian Bolt.
According to Forbes sources, Uklon’s co-founders have been planning to exit the business for several years. In August 2023, co-founders Serhiy Smus, Vitaliy Dyatlenko, Dmytro and Viktoria Dubrovsky stepped down from operational management. They joined the supervisory board, and the company was headed by Sergiy Gryshkov.
These changes in management had a positive impact on the company’s performance. The company ended the first three quarters of 2024 with revenue of UAH 1.2 billion, which is twice as much as in the same period of 2023.
In August 2024, Sergey Grishkov said that Uklon’s strategic goals are to maintain its number one position in Ukraine and to make sure that the share of foreign revenue dominates. According to experts, the deal 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.
Uklon is also expected to benefit in the Ukrainian market, as «Kyivstar» has direct access to a large number of people who can be reached via SMS. Combining the customer base of Uklon and «Kyivstar» could increase marketing efficiency. «Kyivstar» will be able to offer its 23 million subscribers special offers and discounts on travel. At the same time, funding from «Kyivstar» will help Uklon launch projects that the founders were not ready to invest in.
According to Forbes Ukraine’s analytical department, the current price of Uklon could be $40-80 million.
Source: forbes