Careem won't go for IPO anytime soon, says top official

Dubai-based ride-hailing app, Careem, has no plans to go for raising capital through initial public offering (IPO), a top official of the firm said.

“We are not looking at it [IPO] now. It will take more time than next year. It really depends on the needs. At one point, we wanted to go to the public market but it is not clear when it will happen. It is definite that we are not thinking about it [IPO] today,” the English daily Gulf News quoted Bassel Al Nahlaoui, Careem’s Managing Director for UAE and GCC, as saying.

While the official said an IPO is in the pipeline, he didn’t specify the timeline of it.

“It will take a year, two or three and God knows what the future holds”, Al Nahlaoui told the newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.

The official also dismissed rumours that Uber is in talks with Careem to merge both the companies.