ComfortDelGro acquires London taxi circuit operator Dial-a-Cab for £1.2m

TRANSPORT giant ComfortDelGro Corporation announced on Thursday that it is expanding its United Kingdom operations in a £1.2 million (S$2.2 million) acquisition of London taxi circuit operator Dial-a-Cab.

In the deal, ComfortDelGro's wholly owned UK subsidiary CityFleet Networks will acquire the business and certain assets of Dial-a-Cab, adding another 1,100 black cabs to ComfortDelGro's London taxi circuit.

ComfortDelGro is already the largest taxi circuit operator in London with 1,900 taxis subscribed to its Computer Cab plc circuit. The move takes its total fleet to 3,000.

ComfortDelGro managing director and group chief executive officer Yang Ban Seng, said: "This acquisition will enable the group to grow and strengthen its position as the leading taxi circuit operator in London through an expansion of the customer and driver base. It will also help us achieve cost synergies through the consolidation of back-end processes and functions."

The acquisition, if completed, is not expected to have any material impact on the group's net tangible assets per share and earnings per share for the current financial year.

Mr Yang added that London Councils and Transport for London have also recently awarded CityFleet the Taxicard and Dial-A-Ride contract for another three years, with an option for a fourth.

Taxicard is the largest public sector day-to-day transport service in London for passengers with serious mobility impairments or who are severely sight impaired. CityFleet has, through its taxi subsidiary Computer Cab, held this contract over several decades.