Ola buys rival TaxiForSure for $200 million

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REUTERS - App-based cab service Ola has bought rival TaxiForSure for $200 million as it eyes a bigger share in India's fast-growing online taxi services industry, where it competes with local players as well as Uber, the U.S.-based online taxi-hailing company.

The deal by Ola, backed by Japan's SoftBank Corp , is among the biggest in India's startup industry after Flipkart's purchase of Myntra for about $300 million in May last year.

Ola and TaxiForSure will continue to operate as separate entities, the companies said in a statement.

With the acquisition, investors in TaxiForSure will roll over their stock into Ola, the company said.

Raghunandan G, chief executive of TaxiForSure, will step down and Arvind Singhal, currently COO, will become its CEO. The company will retain all of the 1,700 employees, the statement said.

(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Mumbai; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)