Sherpa Capital has acquired a stake in Spanish company CityBike, which was created in 2014 by the Moventia Group and is one of the leaders in the European micromobility market, with a special focus on the operation of public bicycle systems.
Sherpa Capital’s investment in CityBike will further strength the company and accelerate even more rapidly the growth of its international business via the implementation of shared bicycle systems in new cities.
This is the third transaction from the Sherpa Capital Private Equity fund (the third vehicle of the firm after Sherpa Capital I and II), which held a final close of EUR150 million in 2018. While Sherpa Capital I and II pursue a special situations strategy, the Sherpa Capital private Equity fund is focused on the acquisition of stakes, usually majorities, in profitable growth companies of small and medium size with EBITDA between 2 and 8 million euros.
CityBike was founded in 2014 as the micro-mobility division of the Moventia Group, one of the national leaders in the transport sector, by winning the operation of Helsinki’s public bicycle system. Since then, CityBike has consolidated its position as one of the European references in this field, operating three other concessions in Finland and Peru.
CityBike stands out for its unique proposal in the European market as an independent bicycle-sharing operator, its excellent track record in the concessionaires it operates, as well as a network of technological and commercial partners that allow it to offer a unique and adaptable solution to the mobility needs of cities. This value proposal is supported by an excellent team of people led by Jordi Cabañas, General Manager of the Company since its foundation and previously Director of the SmartBikes area of one of the historic leading companies in the bicycle-sharing segment.
At a sectoral level, public and shared bicycles offer an environmentally friendly urban mobility alternative that makes it possible to reduce traffic congestion in cities. This interest in bicycle sharing has now been accentuated by the search for non-massive ecological mobility solutions and alternatives to traditional private and public transport derived from the Covid-19 situation. All of this, together with the attractiveness of the CityBike proposal, means that it has significant growth prospects.
Mr. Lars Becker, partner at Sherpa Capital, says: “Our investment in CityBike will provide the company with resources to execute its expansion plan and, additionally, will serve to support the management team organizationally with a focus on business development and business scalability. Throughout this process we will also count with the extensive experience of Moventia, which will continue to support the development of CityBike”.
Jordi Cabañas, General Director of Moventia’s public bicycle division CityBike, says: “Sherpa’s arrival in our company consolidates our international growth project and leaves us in an excellent position to implement a large number of shared bicycle systems in cities in Europe and Latin America”.
Miquel Martà Pierre, Director of Expansion of Moventia, says: “It is a satisfaction for Moventia to have the opportunity to continue growing in one of our strategic divisions such as the public bicycle, now together with Sherpa Capital. This is an opportunity for the group to consolidate the work and the investment that we have been making over the last 10 years in the micro-mobility sector, which is key for any city and country that makes clear commitments to sustainable mobility that complement current models.”
Arcano and Escala Legal acted as financial and legal advisors to Moventia-CityBike. Sherpa Capital was advised by DLA Piper and KPMG on the legal and financial aspects.
