By Guy Taylor
German chauffeur service Blacklane’s chief executive is considering “options” for the company, including a potential IPO, but has said markets would need to pick up first.
Dr Jens Wohltorf, who co-founded the company in 2011, told City A.M. “we are watching, we like to have options. That is certainly one option in the future.”
But he added that the “current time is not the right one. The markets are down, everybody is struggling, it’s a very uncertain time.”
“The IPO markets will open up early next year again, slowly, starting with the US, so we are just looking and watching and seeing how our options are unfolding.”
A listing would follow ride-hailing rivals Uber and Lyft, which went public in 2019.
Despite Uber’s initial flop, another ride-hailing champion, Singapore-based Grab, managed to pull off a blockbuster $40bn Nasdaq listing in 2021 via a special-purpose acquisition company.
Blacklane has performed strongly in recent years, becoming one of the few profitable ride-hailing companies in the world. This has drawn speculation over a possible listing, with the company stating in 2019 it was looking to float within three years, before pandemic disruption gripped the sector.
The Berlin-headquartered firm, whose key markets are the US, Germany and the UK, has seen an average annual growth of 125 per cent since its inception in 2011 and now operates in over 50 countries and 250 cities.
Unlike competitors such as Uber, it focuses primarily on the premium end of the market, targeting anyone from corporate executives to wealthy travellers looking for a trip to the airport.
Wohltorf told City A.M.the company had seen “a lot of airport-related business” this year at Heathrow and other London hubs, as the aviation sector benefited from soaring travel demand following Covid-era restrictions.
Business-to-business rides in the capital have also nearly quadrupled since 2019, outpacing global growth.
Wohltorf would not be drawn on where the company would look to IPO but highlighted the US and UK as its two biggest markets, and home country Germany, adding that it was “good to have this option space.”
