A Saudi group has bought a Dubai-based Mumzworld in a women-led deal Business and Economic News

A Saudi conglomerate is buying Mumzworld from the Middle East’s first online “women-led e-commerce transaction” for children’s online retailers in Dubai.

A Saudi conglomerate will buy the largest retail outlet for children in the Middle East line, highlighting the region’s growing e-commerce in growing business competition.

In Dubai, Mumzworld said on Monday it had signed a sale and purchase agreement with Tamer Group in Jeddah, describing it as the region’s first “women-led e-commerce transaction”. Financial details were not provided.

The transaction will provide Mumzworld with resources and networks “both geographically and in terms of product offering” to continue to overload our growth, ”said Mona Ataya, one of its founders and CEO.

“We’re a home-grown business,” he said in an interview. “So this purchase by a strategic giant is the right DNA and the right strategic fit for us.”

The deal increases the stakes as competition increases with Amazon.com Inc. and regional rival Noon.com, backed by the Saudi Wealth Fund, India’s children’s product site FirstCry.com is also expanding its footprint in the Middle East. SoftBank Group Corp., an Indian company among its largest investors, reported a value of $ 2.1 billion this year in the financing round earlier this year.

Online outlets have had a major impact in the Middle East over the past decade and have become more widespread as the pandemic has forced people to stay home and rely more on the Internet for shopping.

But despite high growth potential, fierce competition and weaker economic growth have created several e-commerce startups in the Gulf. Sprii’s online retailer for children and both The Modist’s initial fashions have closed despite millions of capital gains. Another Dubai-based Awok.com platform announced the closure last year.

A growing market

Mumzworld says the Middle East market for mothers, babies and children is worth more than $ 10 billion. It is estimated that the online segment grows by around 39% per year, although online access is less than 10%.

This and the impetus for more online shopping will increase the growth of e-commerce companies like Mumzworld, Ataya said.

During the global pandemic, demand for essential baby products “increased significantly” and the company coped well with supply chain problems caused by the outbreak, according to Ataya. He also said that the region’s strong birth rate and young population will ensure future growth for people like Mumzworld.

Ataya, who would not disclose if the company was profitable, said the company has so far raised $ 50 million. The largest markets are the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the largest economy in the region.

The company’s partners include venture capital firm Wamda Capital and Gulf Islamic Investments LLC, a financial services company that made the 2018 investment at the time the largest shareholder in Mumzworld.

With annual revenues of $ 9.2 billion ($ 2.5 billion), Tamer Group is a major health distributor in the region that includes consumer and food distribution and logistics services.

Founded in 2011 by Mumzworld, Ataya and Leena Khalil will both “continue to be shareholder materials” and will be in management. The company offers 250,000 branded products.

(Updates on GII investment and participation from the end of the third paragraph.)

-With the help of Matthew Martin.