The Middle Eastern ride-hailing firm Careem came halting its operations in Sudan as part of its planned acquisition by Uber, a spokeswoman said on Monday.
Careem’s operation in Sudan is ending in less than a year of its launch in the country, as it started operating there in September 2018 after lifting of economic sanctions by the United States in 2017.
In its SEC filing, Uber unveiled its expectation of the Careem to be separating from its operations in Sudan well before the closure of Uber’s deal to acquire the Dubai-headquartered company for $3.1 billion. The acquisition proposal was announced in March this year and is expected to be completed by early next year.
A spokeswoman said in a statement that the Careem’s Sudan business stand completely shut on June 30.
Besides Careem’s Sudan operations, there are no intentions of closing any other of its markets and that too will not came out hurting its business in other markets, she said.
After lifting of U.S. economic sanction from Sudan, there remained very few international firms entering the country which still is not only politically unstable but is also exist on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Sudan is going through political instability after breaking out of protests in December against the country’s long-time President Omar al-Bashir, resulted in his ouster by the military in April.
After a deadly assault on protesters in capital city of Khartoum on June 3, a top U.S. state Department official last week said that Washington was observing the situation and in case of more violence, it was considering all option to be utilized including the possible sanctions.
After closure of Sudan operations by Careem, which was operating in Khartoum only, its local rivals Mishwar and Tirhal continue to be operating in the country.
