Yulon Group invested in LINE TAXI through its subsidiary Yurong Enterprise in the form of a cash capital increase, and is expected to acquire a 9.5% stake in LINE TAXI for NT$50.7 million, becoming the largest shareholder of LINE TAXI.
The relevant investment still needs to be approved by relevant Taiwanese ministries and agencies. Yulon Group expects to expand its diversified mobile service development through this investment. By combining Jindouyun Internet Technology Co., Ltd.'s LINE TAXI ride-hailing service with Yurong Enterprise's market advantages in auto finance and mobile services, it will increase its competitive strength in many mobile services.
Currently, Yulon Group's mobile services include Ge Shang Car Rental and Go Smart shared vehicle platform. If it successfully acquires LINE TAXI ride-hailing service, it will be able to further compete with Hotai Motor's services.
LINE TAXI, formerly TaxiGo, was founded in 2017 by CEO Chen Taicheng and CTO Huang Peien. It initially offered online taxi booking services through the integration of chatbot technology with the LINE platform. At the time, it aimed to challenge Uber and received investments exceeding NT$1000 million from TMS Quanfeng Business and Snow Leopard Technology.
In late October 2019, TaxiGo announced its rebranding to LINE TAXI and confirmed that LINE had increased its investment, acquiring a majority stake and becoming its largest shareholder. However, the transfer of Yulon Group to become the largest shareholder also seems to indicate that LINE will reduce its investment in LINE TAXI.
