CityBike announces investment by Sherpa Capital in the company

Sherpa Capital, a private equity fund manager for investments in medium-sized enterprises with 300 million euros behind it, has announced its decision to invest in CityBike, a Spanish company set up by the Moventia Group in 2014 and a benchmark in the European micro-mobility market, specifically in the field of public bicycle system operation.

 

CityBike was set up in 2014 as a micro-mobility division of the Moventia Group, one of the country’s leaders in the transport sector, after being awarded the public bicycle system tender in Helsinki. Since then, CityBike has consolidated its position as one of the European benchmarks in this field and is the operator of another three concessions in Finland and Peru.

 

CityBike excels because of its unique offer in the European market as an independent operator of shared bicycle systems, its excellent track record in the concessions it already operates and a network of technology and trade partners that allow it to offer a unique solution tailored to meet the mobility needs of specific cities. This value proposition is supported by an outstanding human team led by Jordi Cabañas, General Manager of the company since it was set up and formerly Head of SmartBikes at one of the historical leaders in the shared bicycle segment.

 

At a sectoral level, public (or shared) bicycles offer an urban mobility alternative that is environmentally friendly and enables traffic congestion to be reduced in cities. This interest in shared bicycles has now been heightened by the search for non-massive environmentally friendly mobility solutions and alternatives to private transport and conventional public transport due to the COVID-19 situation. All this, in combination with the attractive CityBike proposal, mean they show significant growth prospects.

 

In this context, the investment by Sherpa Capital is aimed at further strengthening CityBike as a company and driving even faster growth in its international business by implementing new shared bicycle systems.

 

Jordi Cabañas, General Manager of the Public Bicycles Division of Moventia, CityBike, believes that “the investment by Sherpa in our company consolidates our international growth project and puts us in an excellent position to target the implementation of a large number of shared bicycle systems in cities across Europe and Latin America.”

 

Miquel Martí Pierre, Head of Expansion at Moventia, says “Moventia is extremely happy with this opportunity to continue growing one of our strategic divisions, public bicycles, now in partnership with Sherpa Capital. This is another opportunity for the group to consolidate the efforts and investments it has already made over the last 10 years in the micro-mobility sector, essential for any city and country wishing to make a clear commitment to sustainable mobility that can complement existing models.”

 

Lars Becker, a Partner at Sherpa, believes that “the investment by Sherpa in CityBike will give the company access to resources for implementing its expansion plan and will also serve to support the senior management team at an organisational level with a focus on commercial development and business scalability. Moventia’s extensive experience will also provide support throughout this process, as it will continue to offer highly valuable backing for the development of CityBike.”

 

Arcano and Scala Legal provided financial and legal consultancy services to Moventia-CityBike for the deal, respectively, with DLA Piper and KPMG acting as legal and financial advisers to Sherpa.

Hildegard Wortmann from Audi AG visits Sarsa Audi in Terrassa

Ms. Hildegard Wortmann, Member of the Board of Management of Audi AG for Marketing and Sales in Germany, was accompanied by Martin Sander, Mohamed Jaber and Bernhard Pflock from Audi AG, as well as a number of executives from Audi Spain, on a visit to Moventia yesterday. During the visit, they were told about what the company does and the people behind all that hard work. They were then given a detailed tour of the new modern installations at Sarsa Audi Terrassa.

Ms. Wortmann was accompanied on the tour by numerous Sarsa employees, who showed her around the various installations and spaces on site. She was very friendly with our staff and helped create a very relaxed atmosphere for the whole visit.

Audi chose the Sarsa-Audi dealership in Terrassa as the leading benchmark in Spain.

 

Motorprim renews its sponsorship with Barcelona Royal Polo Club

Motorprim, the official Hyundai dealership of the Movento group, has renewed its sponsorship agreement and become an institutional partner of the Barcelona Royal Polo Club after signing a two-year contract.

The Barcelona Royal Polo Club is one of the most important sports clubs in the world. It hosts both national and international competitions, such as the Barcelona Polo Challenge, the International Hockey Reyes Tournament and the Barcelona International Show Jumping Contest (CSIO Barcelona).

By renewing this partnership, Motorprim will become a Title Sponsor of the CSIO Barcelona Grand Prix and, for the 2020 season, the official vehicle of the club and its main events, as well as a sponsor of the Polo Music Festival.

Motorprim is thrilled to bring such brands as Hyundai to our customers through a commitment not only to quality but also to such values as sportsmanship, companionship, respect and fair play.

Motorprim joins the ‘Together on the Asphalt’ campaign by Hyundai

Motorprim, the official Hyundai dealership of the Movento group, will provide a support car to all those cycling associations and clubs that ask for one to use whenever they go out training on the roads.

This is the Motorprim dealership’s way of taking part in the ‘Together on the Asphalt’ campaign launched by Hyundai in 2017, which seeks to protect cyclists and foster more civilised road sharing between cyclists and motor vehicle drivers. Presence at the back of the pack by the Hyundai vehicle fitted with special liveries will ensure that any vehicles overtaking the cyclists do so correctly, respecting the 1.5-metre distance required by law.

“Safety on the roads is essential, and that’s why we have joined this campaign”, explained Lluís Conesa, General Manager of Motorprim. “It is very important for vehicles and cyclists to protect one another, and we encourage all cycling clubs and associations to join the ‘Together on the Asphalt’ campaign”, he added.

All cycling associations and clubs that want a free support car can request one at: www.hyundai.es/experience/hyundaienaccion/juntos-en-el-asfalto

Staff from Moventis Pays de Montbéliard support community projects

The entire human team at Moventis Pays de Montbéliard has always worked hard every day to bring together the various areas that make up our local community, providing a meeting place for the wide variety of people who live and work here.

This area has a large number of associations and local residents that are actively involved in many projects by cultural, religious and sports associations, encouraging the spread of values and integration among the young population. For that reason, and through a wish to bring the service closer to its neighbours and for them to see its transport service as an ally, Moventis Pays de Montbéliard sponsored a boxing match in the region last week. The various lines of the Evolity network run by Moventis connect the entire region with the sports centre where the fight took place. Moventis thus showed its support for local projects in demonstration of its desire to continue being a quality service that makes it easier for people and the various communities to get around.

 

TCC Pamplona uses Is-Pure antibacterial seats

Coaches and buses are enclosed spaces that contain an ever-changing and significant number of people. For that reason, cleaning and disinfecting these spaces is an essential task for both manufacturers and operators. Seats are one of the on-board items most prone to getting dirty.

Fully aware of the current situation, TCC Pamplona has been committed for some time to the Is-Pure system for its seats. These seats provide antibacterial protection, slow the formation of odours, offer protection and improve hygiene and comfort. The Is-Pure system is based on action by silver ions (Ag+).

According to Ramon Palau, General Manager of TCC Pamplona, “we are pioneers in this regard, because we conducted tests with the fabric even before it was brought to market, some seven years ago. Furthermore, the new units we will receive in June will also include this technology”, he explained.

In terms of seat cleaning, Ramon Palau said that “we’re talking about something you can’t see, that passengers don’t notice, but forms part of our ongoing improvement efforts. We constantly research and introduce anything that can help improve our customer service. It’s just another safety feature”.

Department for Regional Affairs and Sustainability improves connection with UAB-exprés.cat (e3)

The Department of Regional Affairs and Sustainability is increasing public transport in the corridor between Barcelona, Cerdanyola and the UAB, with 15 new outbound services and 16 new return services on school days. The number of services is also being increased in August, with 30 new services in each direction for the first week of August and three new services in each direction for all other working days in August. Finally, the number of weekend services is being increased with one additional service in each direction on working Saturdays and eight new services in each direction on Sundays and public holidays.

These new timetables require an investment in two new environmentally certified vehicles. These efforts mean that a bus will run every 15 minutes on average between Barcelona and Cerdanyola del Vallès on school days.

The line between Barcelona and the UAB carried 1,103,095 passengers in 2019, an increase of 20.75% on the previous year.

The Department of Regional Affairs and Sustainability is thus continuing its efforts and maintaining its commitment to improve mobility in the low emissions zone of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (Spanish acronym: ZBE) that has been in effect since 1 January 2020.

Moventis joins the Women in Transport platform

Moventis, the business unit of the Moventia group engaged in collective passenger mobility, is maintaining its commitment to people and society by joining the Women in Transport – EU Platform for Change. This initiative seeks to foster equality and parity between men and women in the transport sector.

By signing this manifesto promoted by the European Commission, Moventis has demonstrated its commitment to encouraging women in work and sharing the best practices and ideas in this regard with the other transport companies forming part of this platform. Joan Giménez (Managing Director of Moventis) explained that “the goal set by the company is for 30% of all new employees to be women”.

This action forms part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Policy, which is focused on a commitment to people, society, the environment and quality of service.

At the same time, efforts continue to maintain a workplace Equal Opportunities Plan for men and women at all companies within the Moventia group.

Movento at the Faconauto congress

The latest Faconauto congress and expo took place earlier this month in Madrid. This is the most important event for the automotive sector anywhere in the country and was attended by over 1,000 people, including the senior management team of Movento – the private mobility group of Moventia.

This congress has successfully positioned itself as the only event attended by all the stakeholders in the sector – dealerships, brands, business associations and manufacturers – to present the latest trends and best practices from the automotive sector.

 The 29th Faconauto event this year was heavily focused on training and offered over 30 workshops for attendees.