Takeover: E-scooter supplier Tier swallows Nextbike

takeover
E-scooter supplier Tier swallows Nextbike

The e-scooter provider Tier Mobility is taking over the bike rental company Nextbike. Photo: Daniel Reinhardt / dpa

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The Nextbike sharing service has relied on bicycles for more than 15 years. Now the company is being taken over by the much younger company Tier, which mainly has e-scooters in its portfolio.

There is movement again on the competitive sharing market for e-scooters, rental bikes and mopeds: Tier Mobility, known for its e-scooters, is taking over the Leipzig bike rental company Nextbike, as both companies announced on Monday.

Nextbike has been operating rental bike systems in around 300 cities and 28 countries since 2004 – mostly on behalf of public transport companies and municipalities. The Berlin company Tier, in turn, has so far offered e-bikes, scooters and e-mopeds for hire in 160 cities and 16 European countries via its app.

The company bosses did not initially comment on the costs of the takeover. Tier had raised around 200 million euros from investors in a financing round a few weeks ago. The Nextbike brand should initially be retained after the purchase: “The brand is very strong,” said animal boss Lawrence Leuschner of the German press agency. «Nextbike also enjoys a lot of trust as a partner of the cities. That’s why we’re not planning to change anything at first. “

For its rental bike systems, Nextbike primarily relies on close cooperation with public clients. The company operates the systems for the Cologne and Munich transport companies, for example. In the future, customers should be able to use all mobility offers of both brands via the respective apps of the two providers.

The Leipzig-based company was one of the few providers on the market for so-called micromobility who had concentrated on one mode of transport with rental systems for conventional bicycles. Most service providers now offer a variety of driving options through their apps. Tier is currently in the process of establishing e-bikes in addition to e-scooters at various locations. E-mopeds that the company acquired from its competitor Coup have long been part of the range.

Tier hopes to have good contacts with city administrations

Tier is not only hoping for an expanded portfolio through the takeover of Nextbike, but also wants to benefit from the good contacts in the city administrations. E-scooters still do not enjoy a good reputation in many places because they often block sidewalks and are involved in numerous accidents. “There are too many providers on the market, that will consolidate over time,” says Tier boss Leuschner. “We are big bicycle fans ourselves and believe that the bicycle will be the dominant factor in the cities.”

Nextbike boss Leonhard von Harrach doesn’t mind the fact that his company is now part of a portfolio of e-scooters. “The e-scooter trend has not gone unnoticed by us either,” he told the dpa. “Of course, that also moves cities, because the scooters have become really important as a mobility component there.” Creating your own scooter range was too capital-intensive in view of the fast market.

dpa

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