The Qatar Competition Authority has recently blocked the proposed $3.1 billion dollar acquisition of Careem by Uber. The acquisition was meant to solidify Uber’s position as the leading ride-hailing company in Middle East on their path to global dominance.
Uber states that there isn’t enough information on the reason why Qatar Competition Authority made the decision. The Qatar Competition Authority has not issued any public statement that explains the decision although it was issued privately to the two companies.
The two companies plan to seek further review of the decision.
United Arabs Emirates is by far the only country that has approved the Uber-Careem deal as the Minister of Economy granted approval on the deal in June this year.
This acquisition deal has also been under review in other countries like Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Uber and Careem have gotten warnings against the merger in Egypt as they could face fines of about $28 million if they proceed with the merger.
Launched initially as a ride-sharing app, Careem has since evolved more into a super-app offering a number of products like food deliveries and payments. Careem now has over 33 million customers and operates across 14 countries in the greater Middle East.
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