Toss Acquires 'Tada' in a Surprise Move... "Expecting Synergy Between Mobility and Finance"

Viva Republica Acquires Stake in Socar
Renewed Service to Launch by Year-End

Lee Seung-geon, CEO of Toss.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Toss is making a surprise acquisition of the mobility startup Tada. Toss operator Viva Republica announced on the 8th that it has decided to acquire 60% of the shares of VCNC, the operator of Tada owned by Socar, and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) among the three companies.

Through the acquisition of Tada, Toss plans to expand the scope of its financial business such as Toss Payments and continue healthy growth and innovation by broadening the choices for mobility service users and industry workers. This acquisition will be carried out by Tada issuing new shares and Toss acquiring them.

Toss aims to complete the stock acquisition agreement as early as October and plans to launch the newly renewed Tada service by the end of this year. The Tada brand will be maintained, as will the CEO position of Lee Jeonghaeng, the former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) who was appointed as the new CEO of Tada in August.

The mobility industry is a field where fintech integration is active worldwide. Grab, which started as a ride-hailing service and is expanding into payment and financial businesses in major Southeast Asian countries, is a representative example.

Tada was the first company to introduce the domestic ‘ride-hailing’ service in November 2018 using 11-passenger vans. It rapidly grew by innovating the existing taxi experience and securing 1.7 million users, but suspended its existing service in April last year due to the revision of the Passenger Transport Service Act. Currently, through ‘Tada Lite,’ it operates a ‘platform franchise business’ targeting individuals and corporate taxi license holders. Toss plans to continue strategic support for the growth of both companies and create a revenue model that allows long-term win-win outcomes for users, drivers, and the platform.

Lee Seung-geun, CEO of Toss, explained, “The domestic taxi market size reaches about 12 trillion won annually in sales, and about half of it is conducted through call apps, so synergies with Toss’s payment business and other financial services are expected.” He emphasized, “Since its founding, Toss has continuously entered markets with established business models and has provided convenient and innovative services to both companies and consumers. This acquisition is in the same context.”

Park Jae-wook, CEO of Socar, said, “We are embarking on a new challenge by partnering with Toss, which is leading financial innovation,” and added, “We aim to take a new leap forward by presenting innovative services that transcend existing industry boundaries together with Toss.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.