Premier shopping mall and retail business, Emaar Malls, has recently acquired regional fashion e-commerce store, Namshi. Previously in 2017, Emaar already had a 51% stake of the Global Fashion Group, GFG (the group managing Namshi). But now, the shopping mall giant has purchased the remaining 49% in an all-cash transaction of AED475.5 million (Euro114.3 million; US$129.5 million).
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This new acquisition validates the demand of e-commerce and online shopping platforms given our digital age where people rely on the internet for their purchases.
Emaar Malls Fully Acquires Namshi.com
Over the past two years GFG has worked together with Emaar Malls and the Namshi team to strengthen the company’s offering by bringing global expertise in e-commerce and shared resources such as global brand acquisitions and technology innovations to the platform.
Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties, and Board Member of Emaar Malls, said, “The remarkable growth achieved by Namshi underlines the potential for fashion e-commerce in the region, where, every day, a larger number of people shop online to meet their fashion aspirations. With the consolidation of our stake in Namshi, we are highlighting our commitment to position Emaar Malls for growth over the next decade and to create outstanding value for all our shareholders through our omni-channel strategy.”
Emaar Malls’ full acquisition of Namshi is a natural evolution of the company’s digitally-driven strategy to leverage the growing e-commerce market in the Middle East and North Africa region.
The full acquisition reinforces the position of Emaar Malls in the rapidly growing online market in the Middle East, complementing its physical retail assets portfolio.
Namshi has a 1.2 million and growing active customer base, and recorded impressive growth in the past two years, having recorded sales across UAE and the KSA of AED849 million (US$231.3 million) in 2018, an increase of 16 percent compared to the previous year.
The deal will further cement Namshi as among the region’s fastest growing e-commerce fashion destinations with Emaar Malls to power its growth through the addition of more brands, enhancing its logistics infrastructure and strengthening its geographic outreach.
Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, Chief Executive Officer of Emaar Malls, added, “Namshi is a remarkable success story that reflects the changing shopping habits of young fashion-conscious customers in the region. The majority acquisition of the company in 2017 had heralded a new era for Emaar Malls in building its online presence. Today’s acquisition underlines the acceleration of our ‘Digital Forward’ strategy to leverage the growing e-commerce market in the Middle East and North Africa region. This will enable us to further accelerate the talents and operational synergies between the two businesses, as well as drive the growth of Namshi by drawing on the superb retail infrastructure of Emaar Malls. We thank the GFG team for their valuable support in driving the growth of Namshi in recent years.”
Founded in 2011, Namshi was the first to provide an online lifestyle destination for fashion and beauty to the MENA region. Now, Namshi showcases a selection of 700 brands.
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