This file image, provided by Yonhap News TV, shows the logos of T Map Mobility Co. and Uber Technologies Inc.
SEOUL, April 9 (Korea Bizwire) — T Map Mobility Co., a mobility unit under telecom operator SK Telecom Co., said Friday it will issue new shares to raise 400 billion won (US$357.3 million) as it seeks to compete with larger rival Kakao Mobility Corp.
The taxi-hailing app operator will issue 4.57 million new common shares and allocate them to two private equity funds (PEFs) — Singapore-based Affirma Capital and local firm EastBridge Partners — the company said in a regulatory filing.
With the investment, Affirma Capital and EastBridge Partners will have a 14 percent stake each in the company.
T Map Mobility, which was split off from SK Telecom in December last year, received a US$50 million investment from U.S. ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc. when it was launched.
The latest investment comes as T Map Mobility tries to compete with Kakao Mobility, the country’s top taxi-hailing app operator, which has 28 million users.
Last week, Kakao Mobility said it secured around $50 million in investment from Google.
T Map Mobility’s taxi-hailing app T Map Taxi has 200,000 registered drivers and 750,000 monthly active users.
Last week, T Map Mobility established UT, a joint venture with Uber, which aims to launch a new taxi-hailing service in the middle of the year based on existing services from the two companies.
(Yonhap)
