Hygglo Acquires Fat Llama to Create Europe’s Largest P2P Rental Platform

Swedish online rental marketplace Hygglo has acquired U.K.-based rental platform Fat Llama for $41.5 million.

Both platforms operate a similar model that allows users to rent out things like power tools, film and camera equipment and vehicles with Hygglo and Fat Llama acting as mediators that facilitate payments and insurance.

Hygglo will acquire Fat Llama’s team, operations, software and branding as part of the deal. Fat Llama’s name will be retained in the U.K., U.S. and mainland Europe, per a report in Tech Funding News. Co-founders Chaz Englander and Rosie Dallas will help oversee the integration and sit on the new board.

By joining forces, the two companies will form the largest European peer-to-peer (P2P) rental platform, allowing them to serve more customers across Europe and the United States, Fat Llama announced in a statement.

“We’ve built a brilliant business and team at Fat Llama,” Englander said. “I couldn’t imagine a better future for the business than this acquisition with Hygglo. We’re on exactly the same page when it comes to powering this rental revolution across Europe and the world.”

Noting that “in 2016 we set out with a vision to create this brilliant service that makes everything rentable,” Dallas said Hygglo “shares our values and desires to transform consumer ownership.”

Hygglo CEO Ola Degerfors credited Fat Llama for its “advanced verification technology, great design and a loyal customer base of both renters and lenders” and said the acquisition creates “the world’s biggest and most sophisticated rental platform” that will allow people to buy less and rent more.

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