INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
BlaBlaCar, the marketplace that matches people for long-distance ridesharing between cities, has announced plans to acquire Busfor, the
leading bus ticketing platform in Russia and Ukraine.
This is the biggest acquisition in BlaBlaCar history and Busfor is the region
leading bus distribution company, with over 150 employees
Connecting our significant online demand with Busfor supply will help travelers and bus operators alike, so we&re incredibly excited to be
joining forces,& BlaBlaCar co-founder and CEO Nicolas Brusson told me.
BlaBlaCar isn''t disclosing terms of the deal.
This is yet another
move in buses for BlaBlaCar
But this is a different move when you compare it to the acquisition of Ouibus in France
BlaBlaBus, BlaBlaCar bus service, currently operates in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.
This time, the company is
buying a ticketing platform that partners with 7,000 bus carriers and generates $4 billion in ticket sales per year
It doesn''t plan to operate as a bus carrier in Russia, Ukraine and Poland directly
Blablacar says that it has 25 million members in the region out of 80 million registered users in total.
Busfor will retain its own brand,
product offering and consumer app, but we will be integrating its supply of bus journeys into the BlaBlaCar platform to help bus carriers
and stations grow their customer bases while also creating the best user experience for travelers,& Brusson said.
But buses are still an
offline industry in those countries
BlaBlaCar says that online booking currently represents 10% of all tickets
There still a lot of room for growth.
Eventually, BlaBlaCar wants to become a carpooling and bus company, with buses for trips from one main
city to another main city, and carpooling rides for trips between smaller cities.
