On Thursday, July 22, 2021, Uber announced its intention to acquire Transplace, the logistics management company, owned by TPG Capital (TPG bought Transplace back in 2017), Bloomberg informs.
It’s worth noting that this move came as a surprise to many since Uber had never carried out such large deals before. It was only last year (2020) that they refused to invest in the auto-pilot and flying taxi field - these areas are now rapidly gaining popularity in the United States.
Instead, they decided to focus on the delivery segment of their business and to improve their UberEats service. So, they bought two other companies: Drizly and Postmates.
The acquisition of Transplace aims to accelerate digital transformation for Uber. Plus, putting both Transplace and Uber together means that they’ll have created a major logistics and transportation network.
According to Uber Freight, more than 70,000 carriers now operate in their network, delivering goods to homes and offices across the country. And they want to continue to focus on end-to-end service for their shippers and carriers.
Uber expects Transplace to help its transportation division to become more profitable by the end of 2022. The deal has not yet been approved by the regulatory authorities and their decision is expected to be made in the near future.