Emaar Malls confirms $800m bid for Souq.com

By
TheMaghrebTimes.com
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Emaar Malls said on Monday it had submitted an $800 million bid for Middle Eastern online retailer Souq.com.

The bid has so far not been accepted by Souq.com’s shareholders, Emaar Malls said in a bourse statement.

“Emaar Malls has submitted a bid of US$800 million for Souq.com in line with the strategy to align e-commerce with physical shopping,” said the statement signed by Ahmad Thani Al Matroushi, vice chairman of Emaar Malls.

 Speculation about a potential sale of Souq has been circulating for months with Amazon linked to the purchase of the site as recently as last week.

Emaar Malls said that if the bid was approved, the impact on the company’s profit for the quarter and for the year would not be material.

“This is an interesting development even though I think the Amazon transaction is almost wrapped up,” said Omar Kassim, founder of market platform JadoPado.com.

 “This will give some shareholders pause as the delta between Amazon’s assumed offer of $650 million and Emaar Mall’s bid is $150 million. The management team have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to achieve the best possible outcome.” ​