Uber confirmed it has inked a deal to acquire Dubai-based ride-hailing service Careem for $3.1 billion.
Uber will pay $1.4 billion in cash and $1.7 billion in convertible notes for Careem, but due to regulatory approvals, the deal isn’t expected to close until 2020.
Careem operates in more than a dozen countries in the Middle East, South Asia and parts of Africa.
It boasts about 30 million users.
It was founded in 2012 and in 2018 was valued at more than $2 billion.
Careem will operate as a standalone business after the deal is finalized.
In a note to employees, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said: "We’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation."
The deal will not impact Uber’s planned public listing which is expected to go ahead in April.
That could value the San Francisco based company at around $120 billion.
