Mumbai, March 2: Taxi service aggregator Ola Cabs is acquiring rival TaxiForSure in a $200-million cash and equity deal. The acquisition is seen as a major step by Ola to take on Uber.

Ola is the country's largest taxi aggregator followed by TaxiForSure, which is present in 47 cities with over 15,000 vehicles registered on its platform. The acquisition is expected to help Ola expand its footprint with TaxiForSure's operator-led model.

In a statement, Ola said both the companies would continue to operate as separate entities. Ola chief operating officer Arvind Singhal will take over as the chief executive officer of TaxiForSure. The founders of TaxiForSure - Aprameya Radhakrishna and Raghunandan G. - will have advisory roles.

"After this acquisition, the combined entity will be strong enough and better capitalised to offer the best value to all our stakeholders, including our customers. The development ensures that industry attractiveness is preserved and the combined entity can race ahead and continue to create unprecedented value for all stakeholders," TaxiForSure co-founder and CEO Raghunandan G. said.

TaxiForSure follows a different model of supply and distribution by working with cab operators compared toOla's model of working with driver-entrepreneurs. Ola has more than 100,000 drivers.

In four rounds, Ola has received funds from Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital, Steadview Capital and recently Softbank. Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and Helion Venture Partners have invested in TaxiForSure.

Ola said the acquisition would bring in significant complementary value to both the entities. It pointed out that TaxiForSure has been focusing on economy consumers, such as introducing the Tata Nano in its fleet and having Rs 49 as base fares.