Saudi Arabia clears Uber-Careem deal with conditions
The Saudi General Authority for Competition has cleared Uber’s USD3.1 billion acquisition of Careem, a Middle eastern ride-hailing business, subject to commitments.
Careem will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Uber but will be maintained as a brand.
The commitments require Uber to commit to a maximum rate for taxi rides which the Authority will monitor. It must also maintain quality of service and work on innovation and improvement. Uber must allow drivers to work for competitors, which will allow rivals to access Careem’s mapping data so that passengers may view their own data on the application. Prices must be applied to all customers without discrimination.
The transaction was subject to merger review in a number of Middle East countries, yet with differing results. It was blocked by the Qatar Competition Protection and Anti-monopoly Committee but approved unconditionally in the UAE and Jordan.
Competition authorities in Pakistan and Egypt have raised antitrust concerns about the local impacts of the deal.
No comments:
Post a Comment