The most important mergers and acquisitions deals that Arab emerging companies witnessed during 2021

It can be said, without the slightest exaggeration, that the year 2021 is the year of records in terms of mergers and acquisitions that the whole world has witnessed. According to figures released by the global data platform Refinitiv, the value of acquisitions and mergers deals between companies around the world exceeded $ 3.6 trillion during the first eight months of the year, a figure that exceeds the volume of deals witnessed during the entire year of 2020, which is $ 3.59 trillion.

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As for the number of deals, it also set a record by exceeding 35,000 deals, an increase of 23% compared to the same time period in 2020. America ranked first in the list with a value of two trillion dollars, while Europe came in second place with a value of 657 billion dollars, then Southeast Asia is in third place, with a value of $620 billion.

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and although the numbers have never lived up to the rest of the world numbers, the market for mergers and acquisitions deals in the environment of entrepreneurship and Arab start-ups witnessed significant growth during 2021, specifically with regard to the global expansion of the acquisition of promising companies in the region. 

Swvlthe biggest deal in the region

Undoubtedly, the merger of Dubai-based Egyptian smart mass transit startup SWVL with Nasdaq-listed Queen's Gambit as a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) comes ) at the forefront of mergers and acquisitions deals in the Middle East and North Africa for the year 2021.

Swvl was founded in Cairo in 2017 by three entrepreneurs, Mostafa Kandil, Mahmoud Noah and Ahmed Sabbah, and received seed funding from Careem, a ride-sharing company. Subsequently, the Egyptian company received huge investments that made it one of the most start-up companies in the region, with a fund value of close to $100 million. In 2019, Swvl moved its headquarters to Dubai and began operating in 10 major Arab cities. 

After the merger with Queens Gambit and its listing on Nasdaq at a valuation of nearly $1.5 billion, Swvl acquired Spanish mass-transit startup Shuttle, which operates in Europe and Brazil. Swvl also announced its acquisition of the Argentine company, Viabol, for mass transit, as part of Swvl's ambitious plan for global expansion after its listing in New York.

Swedish acquisition of Jawaker

The acquisition of the Jordanian electronic games platform, Jawaker, is one of the largest acquisitions in the region during 2021. The acquisition was signed by the Swedish company Stillfront Group, at a value of $205 million, with three payments to be made. Quarters of the value of the transaction in cash, while the rest of the amount in the form of the acquisition of shares in the Swedish group.

Jawaker was founded in 2009 by two entrepreneurs, Mohamed Hassan and Youssef Chamoun, as an electronic entertainment platform specializing in card games of all kinds. The platform includes more than 30 diverse and comprehensive games for all card games known in the region, such as Baloot, table, Tarneeb and other entertainment games spread among Arab youth in the region or those residing in Europe and America. 

Jawaker is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and has a team of approximately 50 employees, technicians and technicians, and several branches in the Arab region, especially in Amman, Jordan. This deal is considered one of the largest deals related to the world of Arab gaming platforms at all. 

Saudi acquisition of Mumzworld

Since the Mumzworld platform was founded in Dubai in 2011 by two entrepreneurs, Mona Ataya and Lina Khalil, as an electronic platform specialized in selling mothers and children's products, it has achieved remarkable growth in this sector that qualified it to be one of the largest specialized e-commerce platforms. Mumzworld has raised more than $50 million in funding since its inception, becoming one of the most funded Arab startups over the past ten years. 

The platform specializes in the market for products related to the care of mothers and children. It has been able to establish a warehouse of 66,000 square meters in the Dubai Industrial City, where it operates, and sells more than 250,000 products in 20 countries, including more than 5,000 brands. The platform includes more than 2.5 million mothers, within a large market for maternal and child care products exceeding ten billion dollars, of which electronic sales represent about 40%. 

These large numbers were the reason for the Saudi Tamer Group to acquire in June 2021 a majority stake in the Mumzworld platform, at an undisclosed value, with hints that the company might be offered to the public. 

American acquisition of ICON clouds

In November 2021, the leading US cloud-cooking and logistics company Reef Technology announced its acquisition of Emirati startup Ikon, which specializes in managing cloud-based restaurants, in an undisclosed deal. The deal came amid a significant rise in the cloud kitchen market in the region and the world, and the service has turned into one of the most famous emerging sectors. 

Ikon cloud kitchen company was established in 2019 in the UAE by entrepreneurs Karim Abu Ghazaleh and Khaled Bara, and during this period it managed about 15 cloud kitchens in the UAE and began expanding into the Saudi market. Akon has managed, through two funding rounds, to garner about $32 million, making it one of the strongest Arab startups that have garnered funding this year.

British acquisition of the Lebanese professor platform

Ostaz, founded in 2017, as Synkers, is a Lebanese educational platform founded by entrepreneurs Zina Sultan and Audrey Nakad. The platform has targeted, since its inception, linking teachers with students, and providing educational benefits that help students excel at all academic levels, from primary to university admission stages. 

Over the years since its establishment, the platform has been able to register more than 40,000 students on the application, and provide educational services that exceed 65,000 hours of specialized lessons in all curricula in more than one country, including Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, America, France and Britain. This expansion made the platform receive $1.8 million in funding in the last quarter of 2020, which brought a boom in the platform’s activities after the emergence of the Corona pandemic. 

In 2021, it was announced that the British educational group, Inspired Education, had acquired the Ostaz platform in an undisclosed value deal, to become one of the important acquisitions in the Arab education platform market, which has witnessed significant growth in the past two years.

American takeover of Eventos

In July 2021, it was announced the news of the acquisition of the Egyptian platform "Eventuss", headquartered in Dubai and Cairo, by the American company "Bevy" for organizing events, in a deal whose value was not disclosed. The platform was founded in 2012 by two entrepreneurs, Mai Medhat and Nihal Fares, as a platform for organizing events and events, both virtual and real. The platform includes many communication options, virtual rooms and interactive tools, as well as ticketing services. 

During the years of its establishment, "Eventus" was able to obtain several investments through 4 funding rounds, worth $2.2 million, and to organize more than 10,000 real and virtual global events, and to cooperate with a number of major clients in the field of conferences, which made "Eventus" occupy a place in the lists of Forbes" for the best Arab startups for several years.

Nigerian acquisition of Qatari Midi

In November 2021, Nigerian health tech start-up Helium Health announced its acquisition of Qatari medical booking platform Meddy in an undisclosed deal. This deal is the first expansion of the Helium Health platform in the Gulf countries, in addition to the 6 African countries in which the promising Nigerian platform is active. 

Meddy was founded in 2015 by two entrepreneurs, Harris Agadi and Abdul Karim Khattab, and is headquartered in Doha and has another headquarters in the United Arab Emirates, and is considered one of the most prominent medical platforms in Qatar with more than 200,000 monthly users. The platform has garnered a set of funds that made it occupy high positions in the lists of "Forbes" in recent years.

As for Helium Health, which has already rebranded the Medi-platform to HeliumDoc, it was founded in 2016 and has raised more than $7.5 million in funding from a number of global African and Asian venture capital firms.

Australian acquisition of Spotify

In 2020, the UAE startup Spotii was founded by Entrepreneurs Anusha Iqbal and Ziad Ahmed as a fintech platform specializing in buy now and pay later. The platform witnessed growth during the years 2020-2021, especially after the Corona pandemic crisis, which was the reason for reviving the financial technology market around the world. 

During this period, Spotii was able to expand to Saudi Arabia, increasing the number of merchants working through it to more than 650 merchants, and increasing the number of installments provided to buyers to four installments without interest or fees. This prompted the Australian company "Zip" to fully acquire the rest of the platform's shares at a value of $16.3 million, after it was a strategic investor in it during 2020.

French Acquisition of Saudi Gaymar

The Saudi Gamer platform was founded in 2009 by Mashhour Al-Dabian, and it is considered one of the most important and largest Saudi and Arab gaming platforms. The platform was established with the aim of following the world of games and its news, and later it turned into a podcast and YouTube channel that managed to attract the attention of millions in a short time. 

Despite the leaked news of the French company “Wepedia” acquiring the platform at the end of 2020, the official announcement took place at the beginning of 2021 that it joined the “Webedia Esports” platform through its regional branch in the Arab region, “Webedia Arabia Group.” Who works in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and the UAE. 

The undisclosed acquisition value on the platform came based on the numbers it achieved, as it gained more than two million users and two million subscribers on its YouTube channel, in addition to the great activity witnessed by the digital games market in the world in terms of growth, where Saudi Arabia ranks 19th globally in this The market, with the increase in recreational activities in the country in recent years, and the emergence of official institutions to support electronic games such as the Saudi Federation for Digital Sports.

German acquisition of Emirates Instashop

While reviewing the most important acquisitions of emerging companies in the Arab region, we cannot overlook one of the largest acquisitions that the region witnessed at the end of 2020, when the German international company “Delivery Hero” announced the acquisition of the Emirati grocery application “Instashop”, with a deal An estimated $360 million, Instashop joins dozens of platforms and applications that the German giant has acquired with the aim of expanding in all markets. 

The InstaShop application was established as a digital grocery platform to deliver all customer requirements, whatever they are, in a time ranging between 30-60 minutes. The platform was founded by Greek entrepreneurs residing in the UAE, Ioana Engledaki and John Tsioris in 2015, and was able to expand to neighboring markets to include Egypt, Bahrain, the UAE and some European markets, and was able to cooperate with more than 500 local grocery stores and more than 1500 retailers, which led to a high volume of orders Purchases will rise significantly.

During the years of its activity, InstaShop managed to garner more than seven million dollars in funding, before the offer to acquire Delivery Hero came in order for the company to continue operating with the same brand.

In the end, and between huge merger deals listed on the New York stock market, and acquisitions of hundreds of millions of dollars, and undisclosed deals of value but significant impact, it clearly appears that the year 2021 was a remarkable milestone in the process of global acquisitions of Arab startups, and provided a clear indication of the interest in The global entrepreneurship environment with the rapid growth achieved by the Arab start-up market in recent years.(Emad Aboul Fotouh)