Saudi Telecom board approves $100m investment in Dubai’s Careem

The board of Saudi Telecom Co (STC) has agreed to buy a 10 per cent stake in Middle Eastern ride-hailing app Careem for $100m, the kingdom’s biggest operator by subscribers said in a bourse filing on Sunday.

The transaction, to be financed by the firm’s internal resources, is conditional on meeting all requirements to close the deal, the filing said without elaborating.

Careem co-founder Mudassir Sheikha told Reuters in September that the firm was in talks with potential investors about its latest fundraising round, which would be used to finance its expansion plans.

Read more: Dubai ride-hailing company Careem says profitability in sight

STC already has a stake in Careem through STC Ventures, an independently managed venture capital fund of which the Saudi telco is an anchor investor.

Launched in Dubai in 2012 by Sheikha and fellow McKinsey & Co alumni Magnus Olsson, Careem has expanded across the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Pakistan. It has a fleet of 90,000-plus drivers and more than four million users registered through its mobile app.

Also read: Dubai’s Careem launches operations in Turkey, set to expand in Saudi