VTB-Capital, a division of the state bank VTB, is in the process of acquiring a 15% stake in the Delimobil car-sharing service. A memorandum of cooperation was signed at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum in early June by Yuri Soloviev, First Deputy President and Chairman of VTB Bank Management Board, and Vincenzo Trani, founder and president of Delimobil and Mikro Capital, the owner of Delimobil.
VTB Capital will pay $75 million for the Delimobil stake, which values the company at $500 million. The company intends to use the fresh funding for further developments and a stronger position on the Russian market.
A pioneer of the Russian car-sharing market since 2015, Delimobil now operates in Russia, as well as Czechia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, under the brands Delimobil, Anytime and Anytime Prime. Last year Delimobil’s Russian car-sharing business generated 5.3 billion rubles, with a net loss of 2.4 billion rubles (around $73 million and $33 million, respectively, at the average exchange rate of the year), according to Spark.Interfax data cited by CNews.ru.
Delimobil has just become the carsharing leader in Moscow city — ahead of traditional leader Yandex.Drive — with a market share estimated at 41.5% this month, according to city government data cited by Bank of America. Other companies operating in Moscow include BelkaCar and Citidrive (formerly YouDrive, which Mail.ru Group took control of in 2019).
VTB Group has been a partner of Delimobil since 2019, providing leasing financing for the expansion of its vehicle fleet.
Car-sharing (also spelt ‘carsharing’) consists in renting cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. The owner of the cars may be an operator or private individuals renting their own vehicle. Car-sharing should not be confused with ride-hailing (e.g. Uber) or car-pooling (e.g. BlaBlaCar).
This EWDN story is based on reports from CNews.ru, Kommersant and Private Equity Wire. It also appeared in bne Intellinews.
