Emirates Telecommunications Group, the largest UAE telco company will purchase a 50.03% stake in Uber's (NYSE:UBER) Middle East, super app Careem.
The deal is signed for $400 million. Careem’s super app includes a dozen services including food and grocery delivery, remittances and third-party services such as laundry. Careem began seeking outside investors last year to help finance its services.
The ride-hailing business will be separated from the Careem super app business and will be fully owned by Uber, but will still be available on the super app.
Emirates Telecom or E& plans to reinvent itself as a global technology investor for which it has the “capacity and the wallet” to do so, the group’s CEO recently mentioned. Last year, Emirates Telecom became Vodafone’s biggest investor. E& says that the transaction fits company's agenda to scale up consumer digital offerings.
The ride-sharing service was in the news last week with word Uber and Brazilian bike-sharing company, Tembici were collaborating make electric and common bicycles available on its app in Latin America.
Tembici and Itau-sponsored bikes will show up on Uber app initially in the northeastern Brazilian city of Recife and later mark footprints in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Salvador, Porto Alegre and other Latin American cities where Tembici operates. Bike docking stations will show up on the app, no specifics on dates given here.
By 2023 end, the company expects run 30,000 bicycles on Latin American streets, a third of them electric.
UBER shares ditched 52 cents, or 1.7%, to $30.66.
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