Gett in talks to sell UK operations for $50 million less than six months after acquisition
New owners seek to shed loss-making overseas activity and focus on the Israeli market.
Less than six months after acquiring taxi company Gett, the company’s shareholders are in advanced talks to sell its UK operations to a local entity for about $50 million, Calcalist has learned. The negotiations are being led by Gett Chairman Ran Guron, who was appointed by the buyer group, and are taking place with a competitor operating in the UK taxi market.
Last August, a consortium led by Leumi Partners, the real estate investment arm of Bank Leumi, acquired Gett for $188 million. The group also included Mizrahi Tefahot, The Phoenix, Meitav, the Australian Lieberman family, and the Klirmark fund.
The sellers in that transaction were the Russian-Swedish investment fund VNV, Len Blavatnik, and MCI Capital. The sale came a year after Pango agreed to acquire Gett for $175 million, a deal that was ultimately blocked by the Competition Authority due to concerns that Pango, Israel’s largest parking app, would control Gett, the country’s largest taxi app.
Gett’s UK operations span major cities, including London, but have been unprofitable for most of the past several years. Even before completing the acquisition, the new owners agreed that the UK activity should be sold, allowing the company to focus on its profitable Israeli operations.
If completed, the sale of the UK business would significantly reduce risk for Gett’s new shareholders. The buyers acquired the company with $69 million in cash, effectively lowering the purchase price to about $120 million. Following the sale, Gett would retain only its Israeli operations and hold net assets of roughly $70 million.
According to Calcalist, Gett generates annual EBITDA of about $20 million, implying a valuation multiple of just 3.5 times EBITDA. The company’s results improved significantly after it won a concession from the Airports Authority in September 2023 to operate taxi services at Ben Gurion Airport. Prior to that, Gett had been loss-making for years and accumulated losses totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, losses that now provide it with tax exemptions.
The original acquisition was not without risk. The buyer group purchased Gett without conducting its own due diligence, an unusual move in transactions of this scale, instead relying on the due diligence carried out by Pango before its acquisition was blocked.
Following the deal, the buyers appointed former Bezeq CEO Ran Guron as active chairman at a 60% position. His base salary was set at approximately NIS 900,000 per year. The salary was initially intended to be higher, but after objections from some shareholders, part of the compensation was converted into options and equity grants.
In recent months, however, Gett has faced a new and unexpected risk. Transport Minister Miri Regev has moved to promote the entry of ride-hailing platform Uber into Israel, a step strongly opposed by taxi drivers. Even if Uber’s entry remains some distance away, it could erode Gett’s revenue, given its position as the largest player in the local taxi market.
According to reports published last month, the Ministry of Transport is aiming for Uber to begin operating in Israel by September 2026, following regulatory approval expected in June. Under the proposed framework, taxi drivers would be allowed to surrender their Ministry of Transport license in exchange for compensation of NIS 200,000, or retain their license for compensation of NIS 50,000.
The Director General of the Ministry of Transport, Moshe Ben Zaken, is currently examining the implications of Uber’s entry into the Israeli market together with a dedicated inter-ministerial team.
