Arqaam Capital, the specialist emerging and frontier markets investment bank, today announced that it has acted as the exclusive advisor to Wego, the MENA region’s largest online travel marketplace, with respect to a strategic partnership with the MBC Group, the region’s leading media company involving an investment by MBC in Wego.
Under the partnership, Wego’s popular and highly rated mobile apps and websites will be promoted across MBC’s Arabic and English TV channels, radio network, digital properties and Shahid VOD.
Tarek Lotfy, President GCC, Arqaam Capital said: “This transaction is another notable accomplishment by our leading M&A franchise. Arqaam provides dedicated advisory services, leveraging our team’s extensive experience in international and regional markets in M&A and across a range of sectors and financial products. Our clients also benefit from our firm’s broad regional networks and placement capabilities to further their financial and strategic objectives.”
“I’m pleased to be announcing the first close of our Series E round today and welcoming MBC as a Wego shareholder”, said Ross Veitch, Co-Founder & CEO of Wego. “The Arqaam team have been great throughout the process and I believe are in a pole position to build MENA’s leading tech investment banking practice.”
Ahmed Ozalp, Executive Director, Corporate Finance, Arqaam Capital commented: “This is the latest transaction for Arqaam in the technology space, which is growing in size and interest in the Middle East. The regional travel agency and bookings market has been rapidly migrating online, attracting international brands and home grown startups, as well as the focus of established local offline players. The MENA dynamics are decidedly positive with a young internet savvy population, high travel spending and increasing online penetration. As such, Arqaam Capital sees online travel as a space that will witness substantial investment and consolidation in the near term.”
Arqaam Capital is marking its 10th anniversary this year. In a decade, Arqaam has grown into a well-established investment bank operating four principal business segments, namely sales& trading, investment banking, asset management and alternative investments. Its core business value proposition is to act as an efficient intermediary between capital and investment opportunities in frontier and emerging markets.
Wego was founded in Singapore in 2005 and is dual-headquartered in Dubai and Singapore. Wegowas a first mover in the Middle East region, launching fully localised mobile apps and websites just intime to meet the enormous demand from a new generation of MENA based travelers wanting to shop and book flights and hotels on smart phones. Wego quickly grew to become the most popular and trusted travel comparison service in the region, partnering with hundreds of local and global airlines, hotels and online travel agents.