The rumours about ride-hailing giant Uber, with a stronghold in 785 cities worldwide, taking over Dubai-based rival Careem Networks has been ongoing for months now.

But it looks like the companies are in advanced discussions to strike a negotiation, which could potentially happen in coming few weeks… but no final agreements have been reached yet according to Arabian Business.

The news comes at a time when Uber is preparing to go public sometime in 2019.

The conversations with Careem had been swirling for quite sometime but nothing came to fruition until now. According to people familiar with the discussions, Careem has been identified to be valued at $3 billion (AED11.02 billion).

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Careem is one of the most successful (and valuable) tech startups in the Middle East

Careem has grown to over 100 cities in the MENA and South Asian region, with more than a million drivers under its belt; its success story has been remarkable.

In fact, the company was valued at about $1 billion (AED3.67 billion) in a 2016 funding round.

The last Uber-Careem merger news came about five months ago when Bloomberg reported the companies are negotiating a deal that could value Careem between $2 to $2.5 billion.

Both the companies are expected to announce a cash-and-shares transaction in the near future.