Abreu Advogados advises LYFT on the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Intelligent Apps GmbH (FreeNow)

Abreu Advogados was the local partner advising LYFT, INC on the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Intelligent Apps GmbH (Target), the company responsible for the operations of FreeNow, a taxi and TVDE booking platform based in Germany. The acquisition value amounted to 175 million euros.

This transaction, led by Baker & McKensie, was supported by Abreu Advogados, which advised on all legal aspects related to due diligence in various areas, including corporate, M&A, financing agreements, intellectual property ownership, information technology (data protection), commercial contracts, labour issues, litigation, real estate, compliance, as well as advice on the share purchase agreement.

The Abreu team was led by partners César Bessa Monteiro, jr and Ana Sofia Batista, and professional partner Cláudia Santos Malaquias, with the support of partner Ricardo Henriques, professional partners Patrícia Perestrelo and Sónia Gemas Donário, associated partner José Maria Alves Pereira, senior associates Inês Cortez Elói and Marta Castro Henriques, and trainee lawyer Catarina Rodrigues Rocha.

LYFT is a US-based ride hailing marketplace. With this operation, it enters the European market, as FreeNow is already present in Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, France, Italy, Poland, and Spain.

The companies say in a statement that this is ‘LYFT’s most significant expansion outside North America, nearly doubling the market to more than 300 billion personal vehicle trips per year’.