Singapore’s BM Mobility offers to buy Malaysia’s electric car-sharing firm UNiRIDE

January 11, 2018

BM Mobility Ltd, a Singapore-listed investment holding firm, said Thursday that it has offered to acquire Malaysian electric car- sharing firm UNiRide Ecotour Sdn Bhd (UNiRIDE), for RM850,000 ($212,944).

UNiRIDE, founded in 2015, is currently 75%-owned by Wanted Marketing Communications Sdn Bhd, an authorized sales agent for electric bike manufacturer Treeletrik Sdn Bhd.

BM Mobility, through its Malaysian subsidiary BM Mobility Sdn Bhd, has offered to acquire 99.5% of Wanted Marketing Communications and take over its 75% stake in UNiRIDE.

The proposed acquisition would give BM Mobility the Malaysian dealership rights for the car sharing business, which targets students and staff in the country’s public universities, the company said.

UNiRIDE runs a fleet of Perodua Axia, the country’s first energy-efficient vehicle, in Universiti Teknologi Mara and Universiti Utara Malaysia.

It has also secured rights to roll out similar cars in two other universities, University of Malaya and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The four public universities have more than a quarter of a million students.

UNiRIDE users currently pay an annual membership fee of RM20 and can rent the cars on an hourly or daily basis. Bookings are made through a mobile app and payment is through e-wallets, credit cards or debit cards.

The acquisition offer comes just over a week after BM Mobility’s shareholders voted to support the company’s change core of business to focus exclusively on opportunities in green energy in China and Southeast Asia.

“UNiRIDE will be a key growth catalyst for us in Malaysia as we expand our portfolio of green-energy projects in Asia. We intend to scale up this vehicle rental business by introducing electric scooters and reaching out to more universities in Malaysia,” Tay Wee Kwang, BM Mobility’s CEO-designate said.

BM Mobility intends to expand UNiRIDE’s rental fleet by bringing in electric scooters via its subsidiary. The company expects to add electric scooters to UNiRIDE by February 2018.