Hellobike, a China-based bicycle sharing service backed by electric vehicle producer WM Motor, will merge with its local Shanghai Stock Exchange-listed peer Youon Bike, China Money Network reported today.
Financial terms of the merger have not been disclosed. The companies hope their combined resources will enable to better see off competitors such as Mobike and Ofo, both of which are corporate-backed and have raised considerable amounts of funding.
Once the transaction has closed, Hellobike and Youon will collaborate with Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of e-commerce group Alibaba that holds shares in Youon, in the areas of bike rentals, electric bicycle sharing and car sharing.
Ant Financial became an investor in Youon’s rural area-focused subsidiary Jiangsu Yonganxing Low Carbon Technology last month when it took part in a $123m funding round for the offshoot.
Hellobike operates a bike rental service across mid-sized Chinese urban centres that typically contain 5 to 10 million citizens. The company raised a nine-figure renminbi (RMB100m = $14.7m) amount from WM Motor in July 2017.
Chengwei Capital had led a series B round for Hellobike three months before that also consisted of a nine-figure renminbi sum, with participation from GGV Capital. The latter had already invested undisclosed amounts across series A and A+ rounds.
Founded in 2010, Youon completed its initial public offering in August 2016, becoming the first bike sharing company in the country to do so.