Swvl buys Turkey’s Volt Lines in first acquisition as public company

Dubai-based mass transit solution provider Swvl – which went public earlier this month – has acquired Turkey-based competitor Volt Lines.

Terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Volt Lines founder and CEO Ali Halabi will continue to lead the Turkish business going forward.

This is the fourth acquisition for Swvl in less than a year. It took controlling stakes in Barcelona-based Shotl in August 2021 and in Viapool, which operates in Argentina and Chile, in November. In March Swvl announced plans to acquire Door2Door, a mobility platform operating across Europe, with the acquisition still pending.

Volt Lines provides corporate clients with an alternative to public transportation or ride-hailing by using a network of shared buses. The company currently has more than 100 institutional clients utilizing its monthly subscription service including Mondelez, Pirelli, MetLife and more. 

“Volt Lines shares Swvl's commitment to expanding opportunities and reducing emissions through forward-thinking mobility solutions. With this acquisition, we are deepening our presence in Europe, immediately expanding our enterprise client-base and continuing to deliver on our growth objectives,” says Mostafa Kandil, Swvl founder and CEO.

“We look forward to welcoming the Volt Lines team to the Swvl family and working together to realize our shared vision of revolutionizing mass transit systems around the world.”

Swvl provides tech-enabled mass transit solutions for intercity, intracity, B2B and business-to-government transportation in more than 115 cities in 18 countries. 

“When we launched Volt Lines four years ago, we set out to deliver a revolutionary transit experience to make commuting more reliable and affordable in Istanbul. With Swvl's global footprint, leading technology platform and proven ability to scale, we believe they are the ideal partner for Volt Lines to accelerate expansion of our platform,” Halabi says.

“We're also excited about scaling our R&D center in Istanbul into a global technology hub, giving Swvl a reliable access to Turkey's technical talent.”