Uber expands luxury market footprint with Blacklane acquisition
Uber Technologies (UBER) announced on Monday that it is acquiring Blacklane, a Berlin-based company that offers luxury and executive travel services.
The deal is being made to expand Uber's move into premium services, with the company calling executive travel a fast-growing segment of its business. Blacklane offers chauffeur service in over 500 cities and more than 60 countries.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year.
The acquisition of Blacklane comes after the company earlier this month launched Uber Elite, its new luxury chauffeur service that will replace its Uber Black high-end offering. Uber Elite is currently an invite-only service that's available in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and will be launching soon in New York City.
The company said that as part of its initial launch, it is extending invitations to frequent Uber Black users and Uber for Business clients before expanding to all riders in the future. There is currently a waitlist for Uber Elite services.
“Premium travel is one of the most exciting growth areas of Uber’s business,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. “We want to offer the widest selection of options to meet our riders where they are: from the everyday commute to luxury rides.”
Uber said that its premium ride options, which includes Black and Uber Comfort, accounted for more than $10 billion in annualized gross bookings last year, representing a 35% increase from 2024.
“Fifteen years after our vision to make premium travel frictionless, we are bringing luxury hospitality expertise to Uber as a leading player in mobility,” Dr. Jens Wohltorf, founder and CEO of Blacklane, said in a statement.
“This partnership marks a significant milestone in Blacklane’s next chapter and is a powerful step-change in introducing our service to new markets globally.”
The company will be facing competition in the luxury space after the London-based high-end ride-hailing company Wheely announced last week that it has launched in New York City, marking its debut in the US market.
With operations also in London, Paris and Dubai, Wheely specializes in servicing business executives and high-net worth individuals with its chauffeured rides in luxury vehicles like the Cadillac Escalade SUV or Mercedes Benz S-Class.
Wheely said that its launch in New York paves the way for further expansion into more cities in the US.
Uber's further expansion into high-end travel through the Blacklane deal follows rival Lyft, Inc.'s (LYFT) acquisition in October of TBR Global Chauffeuring, a luxury ground transportation company, for $110 million.
TBR offers its services across six continents, 120 countries and over 3,000 cities.
Lyft noted at the time that the global luxury chauffeur services industry is valued at over $54 billion.
Uber's stock gained over 1% on Monday, but is down 14.4% for the year.