Uber Technologies said on Friday it will invest more than US$150 million in a joint venture and partnership with South Korea's SK Telecom Co Ltd , which is proposing to split off its mobility business.
The move is Uber's latest attempt to expand in a market where it has faced tough competition, opposition from taxi drivers and regulations which forced it to stop using private cars for its ride-hailing service in 2015.The U.S. ride-hailing company currently offers premium taxi-hailing and registered taxi-hailing services in South Korea, a market dominated by local player Kakao's mobility unit.
Under the plan, SK Telecom would split off its mobility services including satellite navigation and taxi-hailing into a new company called T Map Mobility, which Uber would then back with a direct investment of US$50 million and another US$100 million in a joint venture structure, the companies said. It is expected to launch a co-branded platform, which riders and drivers of T Map Taxi will be encouraged to join after the launch. T Map Taxi is SK Telecom's taxi-hailing platform, the second-largest in Korea after Kakao with 750,000 monthly active users. Its T Map satellite navigation platform is Korea's largest with 13 million monthly active users.
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Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »
Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »