Careem – an Uber-owned ride-hailing company – announced a spinout with major backing from Abu Dhabi-based tech holding company e& (formerly known as Etisalat). e& had signed a binding agreement with Uber Technologies to buy a 50.03% majority stake in the spinout for $400 million — which will be known as Careem Technologies.
Careem’s ride-hailing business still remains fully owned by Uber, which acquired the company for $3.1 billion in 2019. Uber’s stake in the spinout is unknown.
Going forward, Careem Technologies is going to focus on the growth a super app, which offers many services including ride-hailing. Additional services include the Careem Quik grocery delivery (15 minutes or less), food delivery, PCR test booking, digital payments/remittance transfers, bike rentals, laundry services, and event tickets.
Why is Careem spinning off? With Uber being a publicly listed company, there were restrictions in how new investments would come in for Careem.
“I am thrilled to partner with Careem, and welcome e&, as we grow the Careem super app to deliver more services to millions of people in this fast-moving part of the world,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
Currently, Careem operates in over 80 cities and 10 countries. The company was launched in 2012 by co-founders Mudassir Sheikha and Magnus Olsson.
e&’s investment is part of a broader strategy to expand from a telecommunications company to a global technology and investments group. Careem is expecting significant synergies with e& and anticipates benefiting from e&’s large customer base along with experience scaling tech businesses across a geographic area that both companies share.
