Regional developer Emaar Properties is set to sell Namshi, UAE-based fashion and lifestyle e-commerce site, to Saudi-based online marketplace Noon for $335.2 million.
“The cash consideration is the equity value of Namshi, which is equivalent to $350 million of ‘enterprise value’ of the company,” said Emaar Properties on the Dubai Financial Market.
“This is adjusted for the debt at the company level and the normalised working capital required for the company.
“Emaar will receive the equity value as the cash consideration for the sale.”
The developer’s stock price rose after the announcement.
Launched in 2011, Namshi stocks menswear, womenswear, childrenswear, accessories and beauty and household items from more than 1,300 brands.
Emaar Properties purchased a 51 per cent stake in the marketplace from its founder, Global Fashion Group, in 2017, and acquired the remaining 49 per cent in 2019 for approximately $130 million.
In 2021, Namshi recorded $249 million in net sales, and was ranked the second-largest e-commerce site in the UAE by market analyst firm ecommerceDB.
Launched in 2017 with a capital investment of $1 billion, Noon was ranked the third-largest, having recorded $169 million in net sales.
The UAE was Noon’s largest market and Saudi Arabia was a close second.
Last year, Mohammed Alabbar, founder and director of Noon, shared the company’s plans to invest more than $2 billion over the next three years to ensure deliveries to customers in less than 20 minutes wherever possible.
Online shopping is increasingly popular in the UAE, with the country’s Department of Economic Development reporting a 63 per cent rise in the issuance of e-commerce licences in the first half of last year.
E-commerce in the UAE was valued at more than $5 billion last year, according to EZDubai, Dubai South’s e-commerce zone, and market analyst firm Euromonitor International.
By the end of the year, the fashion category of the country’s e-commerce market is estimated to record $4.86 billion in revenue and grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.92 per cent to value $6.64 billion in 2025, per reports by market data analyst Statista.
Across the Middle East, the market value of e-commerce rose nearly fivefold from $5 billion in 2015 to $24 billion last year, according to management consultancy firm AT Kearney.
