Hong Kong headquartered intra-city logistics and freight online platform GoGoVAN has arranged to merge with 58 Suyun, the freight business unit of China's largest online classifieds site 58 Home.
The merger will create Asia's top intra-city logistics and freight online platform. The combined company will continue to be branded as 58 Suyun in China and as GoGoVAN outside of China.
Announcing the deal, 58 Home said it will hold the majority stake in the combined company, and 58 Home founder and CEO Xiaohua Chen will sere as chairman. GoGoVAN founder and CEO Steven Lam will meanwhile act as CEO.
GoGoVAN was founded in Hong Kong in 2013 as the first app-based platform for transporting goods in Asia, expanded operations to Taiwan and Singapore in 2014 and entered mainland China and South Korea in 2015.
The company has more than 180,000 registered drivers in 14 cities across six markets, offering oversized goods, pet shuttle, moving, warehouse transport and supplies moving services.
“The combined company will leverage 58 Suyun's existing premium brand, large users base and online traffic for a quick expansion to 300 cities in mainland China,” GoGoVAN's Lam said.
“Meanwhile, by leveraging GoGoVAN's logistics expertise and business development experience in Southeast Asia, the combined company will further accelerate its growth in other Asia markets. Last but not the least, we aim to continue offering high-quality, efficient and reliable logistics services for enterprise clients.”
First published in Computerworld Hong Kong