Emaar Malls, the shopping malls and retail business majority-owned by Emaar Properties, has fully acquired Namshi, the regional fashion ecommerce retailer.
This follows acquiring the remaining stake of Global Fashion Group (GFG) in Namshi, in an all-cash transaction of AED 475.5 million (USD 129.5 million).
GFG and Emaar Malls entered into a strategic partnership in 2017 when Emaar Malls acquired a 51 percent stake in Namshi. 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 ecommerce and shared resources such as global brand acquisitions and technology innovations to the platform.
As per the company, Emaar Malls’ full acquisition of Namshi is a natural evolution of the company’s digitally-driven strategy to leverage the growing ecommerce market in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
“The remarkable growth achieved by Namshi underlines the potential for fashion ecommerce 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 omnichannel strategy,” commented Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties and Board Member of Emaar Malls.
Namshi has a 1.2 million and growing active customer base. In the past two years, it has recorded sales across UAE and the KSA of AED 849 million (USD 231.3 million) in 2018, an increase of 16 percent compared to the previous year.
The deal is expected to further assist Namshi in growing its ecommerce offer with Emaar Malls to power its growth through the addition of more brands, enhancing its logistics infrastructure and strengthening its geographic outreach.
“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 ecommerce market in the Middle East and North Africa region,” added Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, Chief Executive Officer of Emaar Malls.
He explained this his will enable the company to further accelerate the talent and operational synergies between the two businesses, as well as drive the growth of Namshi by drawing on the retail infrastructure of Emaar Malls.
