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DUBAI, March 28 (Reuters) – Uber Technologies’ (UBER.N) Middle East subsidiary Careem in advanced talks with Etisalat Group (EAND.AD) The company is expanding its investment into services beyond ride-hailing, five people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Careem last year began seeking outside investors to finance its Super App, which offers services beyond its core ride-hailing business, such as food delivery, bike rental, digital payments and delivery services.
Discussions between Careem and the company (formerly Etisalat Group, now e&) are at an advanced stage and a deal could be announced soon, the sources said. The sources declined to be named as the matter is private.
Careem and e& did not immediately respond to requests for comment when contacted by Reuters on Tuesday.
It’s unclear how much Careem will raise from e&, or whether other investors will join, but one of the sources said the ride-hailing company has set up a separate entity to arrange the deal.
While Uber owns Careem’s app and its roughly 50 million registered users, the newly created investment vehicle will have a service-level agreement with the app and its solutions, the sources said.
Uber’s $3.1 billion purchase in 2019 of Dubai-based rival Careem, which primarily operates in the Middle East, was a watershed moment for tech companies in the UAE and the region, maintaining brands and apps integrity.
Careem co-founder and CEO Mudassir Sheikha, a former McKinsey executive, has long been a proponent of a super-app strategy aimed at expanding beyond ride-hailing.
Uber closed its Uber Eats business in the Middle East in 2020 to focus on ride-hailing in the UAE.
Uber’s acquisition of Careem in 2019 gave the U.S. company market dominance in the Middle East and Pakistan ahead of its initial public offering that year, raising $8.1 billion from investors and valuing the company at $82.4 billion.
Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Hadeel Al Sayegh; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
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