GlobalData’s deals database reveals that Volkswagen Financial Services AG, a Germany-based subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, is planning to invest in Pon Holdings BV, a Netherlands-based specialist in bicycle leasing.

VW FS will acquire a 49 percent stake in Pons bicycle leasing subsidiary Bike Mobility Services (BMS). The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for this strategic alliance was signed at the IAA Mobility show in Munich.

The goal is to expand together in the growing bicycle and e-bike leasing business in Europe and the US.

BMS is Europe’s leading bicycle leasing company, operating in six countries (Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Sweden and recently the US). The company currently provides company bicycles to over 600,000 employees in 65,000 companies – from large corporations to SMEs. Some 90 percent of leased bicycles are electric and are delivered and serviced through a network of 8,000 bicycle dealers.

The BMS brands are BusinessBike, Lease a Bike and B2Bike. In Germany, VW FS and BMS have been working together successfully for more than three years.

Volkswagen did not disclose monetary details. Volkswagen Financial Services AG’s investment in Bike Mobility Services is subject to the approval of the supervisory authorities and the supervisory boards of Volkswagen AG and Volkswagen Financial Services AG.

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By GlobalData

Why it matters

Many companies of all sizes, from freelancers to large corporations, but also authorities and the public sector, now provide their employees with company bicycles. Due to the significant investments by national governments and municipalities in bicycle infrastructure and mobility solutions, bicycle leasing is developing in many European markets such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia, UK and France.

Germany is a leader in company bicycle leasing, where it has firmly established itself as a successful model for motivating employees. Leasing makes bicycles and especially e-bikes generally accessible to the entire workforce of companies.

According to the Two-Wheeler Industry Association (ZIV), 2023 will be the first time more e-bikes will be sold than conventional bicycles without electric motors. This growth trend with e-bikes at the forefront is similar across Europe. The same applies to the US, where the e-bike market is just beginning to take off.

Volkswagen will expand its bike leasing business worldwide as an additional profit pool, with a focus on Europe and the USA.

Our signals coverage is powered by GlobalData’s Thematic Engine, which tags millions of data items across six alternative datasets — patents, jobs, deals, company filings, social media mentions and news — to themes, sectors and companies. These signals enhance our predictive capabilities, helping us to identify the most disruptive threats across each of the sectors we cover and the companies best placed to succeed.