Nextbike has been sold by Tier to private equity firm Star Capital, meaning the bike share provider will now operate independently. This comes just weeks after Tier and Dott's merger, which will see the companies operate e-bike and e-scooter rental services in 20 countries.
Tier acquired Nextbike in 2021, resulting in a platform that operated 250,000 vehicles in over 400 cities.
The companies however have "distinct business and operating models" - Nextbike focuses on subsidised bike-sharing contracts with the city as its customer, whereas Tier-Dott’s core business model is B2C shared e-scooters and e-bikes, saying the end user is its customer and the city is its key partner.
Nextbike chief business officer Simon Stephan told Zag Daily: “Since its first days as a start up, Nextbike has developed into the European bike share market leader, pioneering the B2G integration of bike share solutions into the public transport infrastructure of more than 300 cities and municipalities across Europe.
“This business model has distinct tender requirements and product needs and therefore operates better separately. Each company will have greater success in building the best service for their customers independent from one another.”
Nextbike generated €59.3 million in revenue in 2023 and its 115,000 bikes dotted across 300 cities were used approximately 45 million times.
Philipp Gensch, partner at Star, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with the Nextbike management team for the company’s next phase of growth. Nextbike has been remarkably successful in establishing itself as the most trusted partner for cities and public transport authorities, and there remain significant opportunities that we look forward to working on together.”
Tier-Dott will focus on electric micro-mobility solutions and said it wishes Nextbike, “every success in driving forward the transport revolution”.
Tier was advised on the sale by Pava Partners. The closing of the transaction is expected in May.
