One of the key players in ecommerce in the Middle East, Souq.com, is about to be acquired by Amazon according to reports. The Dubai based firm is said to have fetched a $650m – $750m million price tag. It’s apparently the most valuable internet company in the Middle East was said to have been valued at $1bn at its last funding round when it raised $275m in 2016. A deal with Amazon earlier in the year fell over when agreement couldn’t be found on a price, reportedly.
Souq.com was founded in 2005 by Syrian entrepreneur Ronaldo Mouchawar and is a key player, and recognised brand, in the Middle East which represents a relatively small but fast growing aspect of the ecommerce landscape. Like Amazon, it not only acts as a retailer in its own right but also has third party retailers trading in the marketplace. So they’re a good fit.
Assuming that the deal does indeed go through as reported, it’s more evidence (if any were needed) that Amazon’s global ambitions are borderless. The company is making serious logistics investments in Europe and North America, seriously working to get traction in India and Amazon Australia can’t be far down the pipeline. There really isn’t any territory Amazon won’t take on.
Neither Amazon or Souq have yet to make a comment on any deal.
