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Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UPI) – Ober, the world's largest privately held company, announced Tuesday the acquisition of its first rival in the Middle East, Karim, for $ 3.1 billion.
Based in Dubai, Karim was established in 2012 and has since become the leader in shared transportation with a user base of 30 million users in 90 cities in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.
In October, Karim's market value was more than $ 2 million.
Karim will continue to operate under his name within Ober, under the direction of its Managing Director, Madthar Sheikha.
"Preserving Karim's brand allows us to build new products and experiment with innovative ideas," said Ora CEO Dara Khososhahi.
In the world, Ober competes with local companies, such as India, First, which operates in several Indian cities.
Karim's largest shareholder is RAKUTEN, Didi Chuxing and Daimler, as well as the Saudi government, which has also invested billions of dollars in Ober.
This is the largest transaction in Middle Eastern technology history and the second after Amazon's acquisition of dot com in 2017.
The transaction is expected to be finalized between the two companies in the first quarter of 2020.
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