Uber is expected to acquire Careem in a $3.1 billion deal and this acquisition is said to be made official early next week. If this happens, it would be the 2nd biggest deal in the technology ventures within the Middle East, (the first was Amazon’s acquisition of Souq.com, a leading regional online shopping site).
As soon as the news rolled out on mainstream media outlets, people who are influenced by these services rushed on social media and expressed their opinions about the upcoming acquisition.
Some people are saying that after this acquisition standard of Careem’s services will definitely fall.
Whereas, others believe that the Middle East’s startup ecosystem is promising and such acquisitions are fruitful.
There’s a huge debate going on in the comments section of our own story, published on Facebook.
Ex-Chairman PITB Dr. Umar Saif also took notice of the upcoming acquisition and tweeted his remarks.
If true, this would be a huge exit for a Pakistani entrepreneur, born and raised in Pakistan (and studied with me in college at LUMS). Most of Careem’s tech was also developed in Pakistan https://t.co/HfKPv1uoqX
— Umar Saif (@umarsaif) March 24, 2019
Most of the Twitter users have preferred Careem over Uber as they think that this acquisition will ruin the experience for Pakistani users.
Also would ruin the experience for Pakistani users in Pakistan. Careem is on a whole different level than uber in Pakistan.
— Waleed khan (@m_waleed86) March 24, 2019
This tweet hilariously depicts the feelings of Careem right now.
Okay so Careem-Uber merger is finally happening, my request from Careem’s social media team is to post this from their account when the deal gets finalized: Aaj mein Uber, aasman neechay, aaj mein aagay, zamana hai peechay ?????????
— tarbooza kharbooz (@nakaamrade) March 24, 2019
Some rumors also suggest that Careem’s co-founder Mudassir Sheikha will become the chief operating officer for the company in the Middle East and Africa.
Have it on good authority that Careem has sold its ride-hailing app to Uber – but not Careem NOW.
Also sounds like Mudassir Sheikha will be COO for the region.
This will be interesting.
— Caitlyn Davey (@Cait_12) March 17, 2019
Some people are saying that from this move Uber will strengthen its position in this region ahead of its Initial Public Offering (IPO) from which the company is expected to raise $10 billion later this year.
I predicted this a couple months ago. Careem is a great company, a big and worthy rival for Uber in the Middle East. But Uber needed to make an aggressive yet necessary move to strengthen its grip on the region ahead of IPO – this is it! https://t.co/i2grdYlIGL
— Ahmed Raouf B. (@AhmedRaoufB) March 24, 2019
What’s your point of view on the expected acquisition? Let us know in the comments section.
