Skip to main content

Uber to buy Dubai rival Careem for $3.1 billion

Uber is to acquire Dubai-based rival Careem for $3.1 billion in a move that will expand its presence in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The deal would allow Uber to acquire Careem’s mobility, delivery and payments in countries from Morocco to Pakistan. Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO, says: “This is an important moment for Uber as we continue to expand the strength of our platform around the world.” Uber says the transaction will speed up the delivery of digital services to people in the region through t
March 27, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

8336 Uber is to acquire Dubai-based rival Careem for $3.1 billion in a move that will expand its presence in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The deal would allow Uber to acquire Careem’s mobility, delivery and payments in countries from Morocco to Pakistan.

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO, says: “This is an important moment for Uber as we continue to expand the strength of our platform around the world.”

Uber says the transaction will speed up the delivery of digital services to people in the region through the development of an app that offers services such as Careem Pay, a digital payment platform, and a last-mile delivery service called Careem Now.

Once the transaction is closed, Careem will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber but will maintain its own brand and be led by its co-founder and CEO Mudassir Sheikha.

The deal, subject to the usual regulatory approvals, is expected to close during the first quarter of 2020.

Related Content

  • October 16, 2020
    Sub-five-mile 'light EV' trips on Lime's new app
    Micromobility group is also adding a Wheels seated scooter to its own platform
  • January 25, 2018
    Manchester seeks smart but not selective transport solutions
    Smarter transport relies on better communications both with travellers and between transport providers. Andrew Williams reports. Inrix’s prediction that the cost of traffic congestion will rise by 63% to £21bn per year by 2030 clearly illustrates that, in addition to the ongoing inconvenience and inefficiency, ongoing gridlock is a significant drain on the economy. It is against this backdrop that a Cisco-led consortium has launched CitySpire, a smart transport programme that uses location-based services a
  • September 19, 2017
    Michigan fosters real-world testing of workzone ITS
    Turning a ‘problem’ into ‘an opportunity’ is the mantra of just about every business book and Michigan Department of Transportation (MDoT) looks set to achieve that aim in Oakland County, where 29km (18 miles) of the I-75 needs to be reconstructed. Running north-northwest from Detroit, the I-75 carries around 170,000 vehicles per day but, being built in the 1970s, it now requires an additional lane in each direction and upgrading to the latest design and safety standards. Upgrading will be carried out in
  • August 23, 2016
    Xerox takes youthful view of future transport
    Xerox’s David Cummins talks to Colin Sowman about the lessons for city authorities from its survey of younger peoples’ attitude to transport. There can be no better way to get a handle on the future of transport demand than to ask the younger generation about how they view and consume today’s transport. Sociologists have called this group Generation Z – those born between 1995 and 2007 – which will make up 40% of all US consumers by 2020.