Kakao Mobility acquires Splyt British ride-hailing firm

Kakao Mobility, the mobility arm of Kakao Corp., revealed on Wednesday, March 22, that it had acquired Splyt, a London-based ride-hailing startup firm. The acquisition move is part of the company’s strategy to do business outside of South Korea.

As per Yonhap News Agency, Kakao Mobility did not divulge information regarding the agreed financial terms of its deal with Splyt, which was founded in 2015. It is a platform that connects transportation services, including food delivery and ride-hailing, for traveling and public transportation.

Prior to the acquisition, Kakao Mobility and Splyt have already been working together. They have partnered with mobility and hotel reservation service apps such as Grab, Uber, Trip.com, and Booking.com. They have also teamed up with Alipay and WeChat to link their users to various mobility services in 150 countries around the world.

Locally, Kakao Mobility is already known for its wide range of mobility service offerings, including tax-hailing, parking and navigation, designated driver, which is popular in South Korea, and electric bike hire. With its acquisition of Splyt, the company said it will use its assets to push its expansion in the global business and its target, for now, are Europe and Asia.

It was noted that the firm is already operating in Guam and Laos, and with Splyt in its portfolio, it can easily bring its mobility services to other nations. This deal is said to be Kakao Mobility’s first overseas acquisition since its split from its parent company, Kakao Corp.

"The acquisition of Splyt is Kakao Mobility's first overseas purchase deal," Kakao Mobility said in a statement. "It will help us secure a foothold to tap into the global mobility market. The acquisition will help Kakao Mobility tap into the European market based on Splyt's taxi-hailing network and deal with growing outbound tourist demand from China."

Korea Joongang Daily also quoted Kakao Mobility’s chief executive officer, Ryu Gung Seon, as saying, “As Kakao Mobility established a new partnership with Splyt based on efforts to achieve a win-win relationship and the platform technology capabilities, we will take a step forward in our journey to the global market through a close cooperation with Splyt.”