Ford has sold their Spin subsidiary to TIER Mobility.
TIER bills itself as Europe’s leading shared micromobility provider and said the acquisition grows their global footprint as well as gives them a presence in North America.
Ford acquired Spin in 2018 and helped to expand the company’s service area as well as fleet of electric bikes and scooters. Spin has 50,000 vehicles and they’ll now be added to TIER’s fleet to bring their total number of vehicles up to 300,000. TIER will also now have a presence in more than 520 cities in 21 countries, which makes them the “largest multimodal micromobility operator globally in terms of number of cities and vehicles.”
Also Read: Ford Buys Electric Scooter Company Spin
While it remains unclear what the immediate future will look like, Spin users are set to benefit from the acquisition as TIER will modernize their fleet with swappable batteries. TIER also promised a number of “upcoming projects to achieve environmental sustainability and efficiency in the North American micromobility industry.”
TIER Mobility CEO Lawrence Leuschner said, “TIER’s acquisition of Spin and our entry into the North American market are huge milestones in our mission to Change Mobility for Good. We are excited to support citizens in cities and communities across North America to make the switch from cars to more sustainable urban mobility solutions – a switch that is urgently needed to decarbonize towns and cities across the world.”
Ford’s Franck Louis-Victor added, “We believe there are incredible synergies between Spin and TIER, and this new era will provide scale that’s desperately needed in the competitive micromobility sector. We are pleased to remain in the mix as a strategic investor in TIER and look forward to their continued growth.”
While TIER said the “purchase price and further financial details of the transaction will not be disclosed,” CNBC is reporting the deal was made in exchange for equity. Leuschner also told the publication that the acquisition is a “huge win” as “We believe that the U.S. market is not only the biggest market in micromobility globally, but also we think there’s going to be a massive rebound after Covid.”
