Souq.com and Amazon complete $65m acquisition deal

The Dubai-based online retailer Souq.com on Monday said its sale to e-commerce giant Amazon has been completed.
The $650-million deal, initially announced in March, would allow Amazon to capitalize on Souq.com’s leadership in Middle East and North Africa, accounting for as much as 78 percent of e-commerce in the region.
In a joint statement, Souq.com said that users now could log into their website using their Amazon account even as both companies work on the “next phase of the integration to bring more products and offerings to the region’s customers even faster.”
“It is an exhilarating time for the e-commerce industry in the region. Integration of Amazon’s technology and global resources with our local expertise will help us to offer a great service to our loyal customers,” Ronaldo Mouchawar, the co-founder and chief executive of Souq.com said.
Amazon.com’s senior vice president for its international consumer business, Russ Grandinetti, meanwhile said: “We are excited to be able to provide our customers in the Middle East with the benefit of easy access to Souq.com using their Amazon credentials.”
“We are working to quickly integrate Souq.com and Amazon capabilities, in terms of both customer experience and fulfillment, to provide an ever-improving shopping experience for customers in the Middle East.”
Emaar Malls, the retail unit of Dubai’s largest publicly-traded property company Emaar, earlier offered a $800 million bid for Souq.com, while
China’s Alibaba and retail group Majid Al Futtaim have also shown interest in the online retailer.
Amazon’s acquisition of Souq.com, one of its largest after the 2014 purchase of game streaming site Twitch for $970m, gives it a foothold to a market of 50 million consumers across several countries.
Souq.com claims up to 45 million visitors per month and a range of 8.4 million products – from perfumes to home cleaning products – across 31 categories.

source: AFP