Cloud kitchens eyes Mideast IPO as food delivery sector heats up
Ghost kitchens are the unseen commercial cooking operations that largely fuel the food delivery business, using cheaper real estate to keep restaurant business costs down
Travis Kalanick looks out at the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The Saudi PIF-backed ghost kitchen startup run by former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is considering an IPO of its Middle East unit.
CloudKitchens has hired Goldman Sachs to work on the deal, which would involve a listing in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, or both, Bloomberg reports.
The PIF, which invested $3.5 billion in Uber under Kalanick, pumped $400 million into his new kitchen venture in 2019, helping fund its rapid global expansion.
Ghost kitchens are the unseen commercial cooking operations that largely fuel the food delivery business, using cheaper real estate in industrial areas to keep costs down for restaurant businesses.
CloudKitchen’s Middle East operations include KitchenPark, which operates facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait.
Meanwhile, Uber subsidiary Careem has branched out in an unlikely direction, offering to deliver certified 24-carat gold coins to Dubai residents in less than an hour.