The deal "presents a compelling opportunity to leverage Uber's footprint to turbocharge their growth"
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Addisons have confirmed their roles in the acquisition of local peer-to-peer car-sharing platform Car Next Door by Uber.
“The acquisition by Uber is validation of the strong business that the Car Next Door team has built, and presents a compelling opportunity to leverage Uber’s footprint to turbocharge their growth,” said Addisons managing partner Kieren Parker.
According to Uber, the transaction builds on its current investments in electric vehicles, micromobility, and public transport.
“This year marks 10 years since both Uber and Car Next Door launched in Australia. A lot has changed in that time but one thing has stayed constant: a shared vision that we need to make transport not just safe, convenient, and affordable – but also sustainable,” said Dom Taylor, general manager of Uber Australia and New Zealand, in a media release.
Car Next Door will continue to operate independently following the acquisition, although the company will be reporting to Uber’s Australia team. Uber confirmed that Car Next Door’s current leadership team will remain focused on “building and scaling their technology in more cities across Australia.”
“This is an exciting opportunity for Car Next Door to achieve our mission of ‘freeing people and the planet from the one person one car mentality’ years before we otherwise could have. By working with Uber we can scale up our ambitions and look to move Australians away from the over-reliance on the private car which is damaging our planet and making our cities less liveable,” Car Next Door CEO and co-founder Will Davies said.
In working on the transaction, Parker received support from Addisons senior associate Rebecca Dooley and solicitors Sophie Evans and Max Jamieson.
HSF, meanwhile, put together a multijurisdictional team comprising lawyers across various areas of specialisation to advise Uber on the acquisition. Partners Malika Chandrasegaran (M&A) and Kwok Tang (TMT) headed the team, which brought together lawyers from the Sydney and Singapore branches.
Executive counsel James Shirbin and solicitors Thomas Gooch, Sunny Li, Raymond Sun and Ellen O’Rourke were part of the team. Partner Toby Eggleston from associated tax practice Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills also pitched in.
“It has been a delight and privilege to assist the Uber team on this strategic transaction, which will add Car Next Door to Uber’s suite of products in Australia. We congratulate the Uber and Car Next Door teams, and look forward to their continued success and collaboration,” Chandrasegaran said.
