Mahindra acquires all of Meru Cabs with fresh investment of Rs98 crore
03 May 2021
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Mahindra & Mahindra has acquired the remaining 56.80 per cent shares in Meru Travel Solutions Limited (Meru Cabs), with a fresh investment of Rs98 crore, to take full control of the shared mobility business as the automotive major expands into new markets and finds new markets for its vehicles.
Mahindra acquired 44.14 per cent shares in Meru Cabs owned by private equity investor True North and others for Rs76.03 crore and 12.66 per cent shares from Neeraj Gupta and Farhat Gupta for Rs21.63 crore. With this acquisition, Mahindra now owns 100 per cent stake in Meru.
Pravin Shah, who was earlier President Automotive at Mahindra till March 2017, will take charge of Meru as the new CEO.
Mahindra has entered into definitive agreements with shareholders of Meru Travel Solutions to buy their respective stakes in the ride sharing company.
Commenting on the acquisition, Anish Shah, MD and CEO, Mahindra Group said, "At the outset, I would like to thank Neeraj Gupta and the team at Meru for building a pioneering brand in the shared mobility space in India. Our association with Meru is built on our compelling strategy to scale our shared mobility businesses. Pravin has agreed to take this critical responsibility of the business and to develop sustainable and scalable business strategies."
Neeraj Gupta, Founder CEO and Whole Time Director- Meru said, "The last two decades in the mobility industry, building Meru to become a household name in the country has been exhilarating. The time is right for me to pursue newer interests and handover Meru in the safe hands of the Mahindra Group, one of the finest corporate houses in the country. Under the able leadership of Dr. Anish Shah, I am confident that Meru will rise to greater heights in the times to come."
One of the pioneers in the cab aggregator business, Meru Cabs was founded in 2006. It started the trend on cab booking over phone and providing AC cab service at customer’s doorstep.
Meru has two subsidiaries - V-Link Automotive Services and V-Link Fleet Solutions – besidies its e=mobility subsidiary Meru Mobility, which runs electric vehicles.
Meru has also been expanding its electric vehicles in its fleet and has a wide operation network at airports in multiple cities and employee transportation business. The company will not only help Mahindra to tap a new sector, but also will facilitate faster EV adoption in fleet business.
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