São Paulo – Emaar Malls, the retail unit of Emaar Properties, from the United Arab Emirates, said that it has fully acquired the regional fashion e-commerce retailer Namshi, one of the largest of the segment in the region. The information was published in websites from the Gulf, including Arabian Business on Monday (25).
Emaar had already acquired 51% of the business, but now it fully bought the e-commerce retailer previously owned by Global Fashion Group (GFG). The first acquisition occurred two years ago. The remaining 49% was bought for AED 475.5 million (USD 129.5 million).
Emaar Malls said the 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.
Namshi has a 1.2 million and growing active customer base, and sold AED 849 million (USD 231 million) last year, a 16% increase compared to the previous year, according to Arabian Business. Founded in 2011, Namshi now showcases a selection of 700 brands including leading global names.
“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,” said Emaar Propertis chairman Mohamed Alabbar, according to the press release. Emaar Malls CEO Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne added that 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.”
Namshi website allows for purchases not only in the Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain and Oman but also in countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Albany, China, Canada, reaching around 80 markets.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
