Talabat

And going back to your paper, you make the point that your job isn't just to decide when to invest in a company, but also when not to invest in a company.

And you give the example of the Middle Eastern company Talabat that does deliveries of food and groceries.

It's a bit like Deliveroo here in the UK.

Now, it floated in 2024, and I think you write about the fact that you had quite a bit of access to it, but you decided not to invest.

And we did a lot of on the ground research.

The thing that began to bother us longer term was Meituan, which is a Chinese company we've been invested in for a very long time, had recently entered the Saudi market and it was quite clear at some point they will try to go into UAE.

And we felt that local investors and some foreign investors were really underestimating the competitive threat that Mechuan would ultimately have in that market and the ability that Mechuan would have to spend billions of dollars trying to break into the market that we felt would overwhelm any competitive advantage that Talabat had.

And so it was ultimately sort of our knowledge of Mechuan and its culture and its goals that helped us to avoid investing in Talabat.

Empty box.

Jinya! There's nothing in it! So I go on buy one from Talabat.

All right.

Order it.

And I'll never forget the first day in Doha and we didn't have a remote for, you know, kiddos TV.

And we just went on Talabat and it was there in 20 minutes.

Like...

I mean, we went from, well, I grew up in the U.S. where it's, you know, things are fairly convenient.

At the same time, Uber is pursuing its $14.8 billion acquisition of Germany's delivery hero, agreed in July.

Delivery Hero owns major platforms including Talabat, Food Panda, and Hunger Station.

The transaction could significantly expand Uber's exposure to food delivery and quick commerce alongside its ride-hailing operations.

And in Saudi Arabia, a homegrown beauty company is getting one of its most visible campaigns yet.

Busy.

So Talabat will be super delayed.

Uh, also, uh, I would probably caution against driving just before iftar.

Yes.

Um, so where I went for an iftar, we actually had virtual cannons, and they were maybe a little more gentle.

[laughs]

And so, and the other piece of breaking the fast is Talabat has a countdown.

[laughs]