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Amazon Wins Battle to Buy Souq.com

The US e-commerce giant trumped an offer from Emaar Malls PJSC, the operator of the world’s biggest shopping centre, which bid $800 million for Souq.com.
Source: Souq.com
By
  • Bloomberg

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Amazon.com Inc. has won the battle to acquire Dubai-based Souq.com, after walking away from a deal earlier this year.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed in a joint statement from Amazon and Souq.com Tuesday. The US e-commerce giant trumped an offer from Emaar Malls PJSC, the operator of the world’s biggest shopping center, which bid $800 million for Souq.com.

“Amazon and Souq.com share the same DNA — we’re both driven by customers, invention and long-term thinking,” said Russ Grandinetti, senior vice president at Amazon, in a statement.

Amazon restarted negotiations after earlier talks put a price of as much as $650 million on the target, people familiar with the situation have said.

Souq.com was valued at $1 billion in its last funding round, people with knowledge of the matter said in April 2015. Souq.com’s existing investors include Tiger Global Management and South Africa’s Naspers Ltd. The deal is expected to close in 2017.

By Giles Turner; editors:  Eric Pfanner and Robert Fenner.
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