UAE telecoms company e& will sell 12.5 per cent of its stake in Careem Technologies to Uber for $100 million.
Following the transaction, e& will reduce its stake in Careem to 37.53 per cent, from 50.03 per cent, it said in a statement on Monday to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
"While e& will remain a meaningful shareholder and close strategic partner, this move brings Careem and Uber back into a closer, deeply familiar alignment," said founder and CEO Mudassir Sheikha.
E& had acquired the majority stake in Careem Technologies, previously known as Careem Everything App, for $400 million from Uber in December 2023. The Careem unit was created by carving out the non-ride-share businesses from the company. The ride-share business is fully owned by Uber, which bought Careem for $3.1 billion in 2019.
“Our partial stake sale to Uber will allow Careem Technologies to benefit from Uber’s global technology experience and platform synergies, and position itself for the next phase of growth,” e& said in the statement on Monday.
“This also reflects e&’s increased strategic focus on its core businesses and disciplined capital allocation priorities, while maintaining exposure to Careem Technologies and remaining aligned with its future growth trajectory.”
Careem, which operates in more than 70 cities in 10 countries, has expanded operations rapidly in recent years. Besides ride-sharing, it offers services in segments including food, groceries and payment solutions.
As part of the latest transaction, e& said it also has a put option that gives it the right to require Uber to purchase e&’s remaining shares of Careem, while Uber holds a reciprocal call option that gives it the right to require e& to sell those shares.
These options are exercisable between December 1, 2031 and January 31, 2032.
Formerly known as the Etisalat Group, e&'s aggregate subscriber base reached 248 million as of the end of the first quarter of the year, up by nearly 31 per cent annually.
The company's revenue increased by about 15 per cent year over year to Dh19.4 billion ($5.28 billion) “despite the repercussions of the geopolitical tension on business growth during March 2026", it said.
Net profit attributable to shareholders during the period dropped by more than 46 per cent annually to Dh2.88 billion, mainly due to a gain last year from the sale of Khazna. Excluding that, net income rose by 3.9 per cent, e& said.
The telecoms company said on Monday that it will continue to work closely with Careem's management and shareholders to “support and promote the company as a high-potential growth platform with attractive long-term prospects”.
