Morrison Foerster Advises Uber on the Acquisition of Chauffeur Service Leader Blacklane

Morrison Foerster (“MoFo”) is advising Uber Technologies Inc (“Uber”) (NYSE: UBER) on its agreement to acquire Blacklane GmbH (“Blacklane”), as Uber continues its expansion into luxury and executive travel.

Founded in Berlin, Germany, in 2011 to bring quality and consistency to travel, Blacklane connects guests worldwide with independent local chauffeur services via an app and web booking platform. Today, Blacklane operates in over 500 cities across more than 60 countries and has grown to be the chauffeur service of choice for discerning travelers and executives of the world’s leading corporations. Executive travel is a fast-growing segment of Uber’s business, driven by strong demand for planned, high-quality transport services.

The acquisition is subject to the receipt of customary regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of 2026. 

Prior to the acquisition of Blacklane, Morrison Foerster has advised Uber on other cross-border acquisitions, including its acquisition of UK technology company Autocab, Denmark’s Dantaxi and its strategic investment in Wayve Technologies Ltd., a leading developer of embodied AI technology for automated driving.

The global MoFo deal team was led by M&A/private equity partner Jörg Meißner (Berlin), M&A partner Andrew Boyd (London) and M&A counsel Monika Obal (Berlin).

The wider cross-border deal team included associate Alexander Jansche from the Berlin corporate M&A team; a Berlin-based technology transaction group including partner Wolfgang Schönig, counsel Stephan Kress, and associates Zoe Menkhoff and Florian Werkmeister; antitrust and regulatory partners Megan E. Gerking (Washington D.C.), Marie-Claire Strawbridge (London), Andreas Grünwald, Christoph Nüßing (both Berlin), and Michael Miller (New York), and associates Aaron Heath Scheinman (Washington D.C.), Nina Graw (Berlin), and Riccardo Cavalli (Brussels); Data, Cyber & Privacy partner Annabel Gillham, (London), and associates Andreas Ebert (Berlin) and Brittnie Moss-Jeremiah (London); and Employment & Labor partner Hanno Timner (Berlin) and associates Lara King and Michal Pati (both London). 

Further support was provided by Executive Compensation & Benefits partner Rachel Faye Smith (Boston); Financial Services partner Daniel Jones (London); and Tax partners Jens-Uwe Hinder (Berlin) and Richard Nugent (New York), and associate Philip Reichel (Berlin).