Afer two years of ownership, Tier Mobility is selling its Nextbike bike-share brand to Star IV, a fund managed by private equity provider Star Capital Partnership.
The deal, which is expected to go through in May, means that the Leipzig-based company will be independent as Nextbike.
A statement from Tier says: "The main reason for the current spin-off is the two distinct business and operating models: Nextbike focuses on subsidised bike-sharing contracts with the city as their customer, Tier-Dott’s core business model is B2C shared e-scooters & e-bikes, with the end user as our customer and the city as our key partner."
Since these business models have "distinct tender requirements and product needs", they will be better off as separate entities, Tier adds: "Each company will have greater success in building the best service for their customers independent from one another."
Nextbike says that had revenues of European market leader generated revenue of €59.3m in 2023 and has 115,000 bikes across 300 cities in 20 countries.
The company says it will "continue to focus entirely on its core business - the development and integration of custom bike sharing solutions for public transportation infrastructures of cities and municipalities throughout Europe".
Nextbike's Simon Stephan says: "In recent years, we have proven to be particularly resilient and innovative. Nextbike, together with its municipal partners, has not only established bike sharing as an integral component of local public transport but has also developed a stable and economically sustainable business model with this format. Long-term reliability is key when it comes to public infrastructure and services. With Star Capital, we now have an experienced and established partner behind us to continue Nextbike's success story for the next 20 years."
Philipp Gensch of Star Capital says there is "great potential for organic growth" for Nextbike.
The company "is driven by innovation like a start-up and at the same time offers the reliability of an established industry leader", he adds.
