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Sunday, 18 June 2017

Abraaj sells stake in Careem to Kingdom Holding Company

Abraaj exits Careem, places stake with Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding: The Abraaj Group announced that it successfully sold its stake in ridesharing app Careem to Kingdom Holding Company. Kingdom Holding Company, which is chaired by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, said in a statement it had purchased a 7% stake worth USD 62 mn. Abraaj says it “closely partnered with Careem and its management team through a critical phase of the Company’s growth. The Group helped drive and increase corporate client outreach through its strong regional networks, accelerated strategic hiring, and supported the Company with expansion into new markets.”

The transaction came as Careem raised USD 150 mn, Reuters reports, noting, “The latest fundraising … increases investment in the company to USD 500 mn from USD 350 mn last December when it was valued at USD 1 bn.”

Germany’s Daimler invested in the funding round, CNN reports. Daimler had entered into a partnership with Uber to operate self-driving cars earlier this year. The report describes Daimler’s investment in Careem as a “blow” to Uber as it tries “to hedge its bets in the ride hailing market” and notes it is not alone in doing so as Prince Alwaleed already owns 5% in Uber competitor Lyft. “Our investment in Careem is a continuation of our strategy to invest in new technologies as we have done with our investments in Twitter, JD.com and Lyft,” said Kingdom Holding CEO Talal Al Maiman.

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