Amazon finalises acquisition of Souq.com

On Monday 3rd July, US e-commerce giant Amazon finalised the acquisition of Souq.com, the number one online sales group in the Middle East and North Africa. The operation was first announced last March.

In a joint press release, the new partners wrote that "customers can now connect to Souq.com using their Amazon ID."

"The combined strength of Amazon's technology and worldwide resources and our local expertise will help us provide a top-notch service to our loyal customers," said Ronaldo Mouchawar, CEO and co-founder of Souq.com. Russel Grandinetti, Vice-President of Amazon, has promised "to quickly merge the capabilities of Souq.com and Amazon (...) in order to offer a constantly improved purchasing experience to Middle Eastern customers."

The acquisition of Souq.com means Amazon makes a strong entry into a fast-growing market, at a time when the US giant continues to invest in its retail network, notably with the recent acquisition of the Whole Foods store chain, with branches in the USA, Canada and the UK.

Souq.com was founded in 2005 and claims over 45 million monthly website visits from the Middle East and North Africa, especially the UAEs, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. According to Souq.com, the website offers a range of over 8.4 million products.

It was originally created as an online auction site, before launching into generalist e-tail. In February 2016, Souq.com announced it raised $275 million with international investors to finance its growth, and was at the time valued at $1 billion.

(with AFP)

Amazon finalises acquisition of Souq.com

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