Gett, an Israel-based ride hailing service backed by carmaker Volkswagen and conglomerate Access Industries, has agreed to a $1bn reverse takeover with special purpose acquisition company Rosecliff Acquisition Corp I.
The deal gives the combined company a pro forma valuation of $1bn and is boosted by $30m in private investment in public equity financing from Rosecliff Acquisition’s sponsors and selected Gett shareholders.
The business will get the position on the Nasdaq Stock Market taken by Rosecliff Acquisition in a $220m initial public offering in February this year.
Founded in 2010 as GetTaxi, Gett runs an app-based ride hailing platform which operates across Europe, North America and Asia. It will use the funding to fuel its global expansion.
The company most recently closed a $115m round in January this year with $15m from investment bank Pelham Capital Investments and unnamed existing backers. It followed a $100m equity and debt close in July 2020 from investors including Vostok Nafta Investments and undisclosed others.
Gett had closed a $200m round in mid-2019 featuring Volkswagen, Access Industries, Vostok Nafta Investments, Kreos Capital, MCI Capital, Capital Group Private Equity Managers and co-founders Roi Moore and Dave Waiser at a $1.5bn valuation.
The 2019 round reportedly increased the company’s total funding to between $790m and $830m. Volkswagen had invested $300m in Gett in early 2016 as part of an agreement to jointly develop on-demand ride services, after which the company raised $100m in debt financing from Sberbank later the same year.
