DUBAI: Amazon.com Inc. has agreed in principle to buy Dubai-based Internet retailer Souq.com, one of the best-known names in the Middle East’s online shopping market, sources familiar with the deal said on Wednesday.
Souq.com, which sells consumer electronics, fashion, household items and other goods, lays claim on its website to being the largest e-commerce site in the Arab world.
For Amazon, Souq.com offers expertise and a foothold in a region where e-commerce is expanding quickly thanks to a young and tech-savvy population. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the top markets worldwide for mobile phone penetration.
Amazon declined to comment, and a spokesperson for Souq.com did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sources did not disclose the price of the deal. The company has raised $425 million since its founding in 2005, according to CrunchBase. It was reported to be valued at $1 billion at the time of its latest funding round last year, but sources said the deal was worth less than that.
Still, the deal is large for Amazon, a company that has preferred building its own operations to making acquisitions. Its largest deal was for live-streaming gaming network Twitch, which it acquired for $970 million in cash in 2014.
Scott Jacobson, managing director of Madrona Venture Group and formerly a senior manager at Amazon, said Amazon did not have a lot of personnel or infrastructure in the Middle East to serve as the backbone of a retail operation, which could make an acquisition more appealing. That is in contrast to India, where Amazon already had offices and large teams of engineers prior to launching its e-commerce operations in that country.
“Mobile device penetration is quite high” in the Middle East, particularly for smartphones, Jacobson said. “Pair that with a significant population and healthy GDP per capita in countries like Saudi Arabia and in the UAE, and those factors make it an interesting market.”
High Shopping Prices
Goldman Sachs acted as adviser for Souq.com and helped to arrange the deal, two sources told Reuters. There has been speculation about deal talks for months. A Bloomberg report in January said possible buyers including Amazon and India’s Flipkart had walked away.
One of the sources close to the deal said it gave Amazon a foothold in the region without having to deal with bureaucratic hurdles such as getting regulatory approvals from each country and signing up vendors and suppliers.
Another benefit may be the high price of some of the imports sought by wealthy Middle Easterners.
“Western products and brands which are big in the United States and the UK sell really well,” said Guru Hariharan, a former Amazon manager and now chief executive of retail technology company Boomerang Commerce.
Shoppers “are ready to pay a 50 percent to 100 percent premium on an average basis (particularly) for the high-end brands,” he said.
Souq.com initially launched as an Internet auction site and has developed into a retailer and marketplace for third-party vendors.
Interest is growing in the region’s e-commerce market, estimated to be worth $20 billion in 2016. Last year Emirati businessman Mohamed Alabbar teamed up with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and other private investors to launch a $1 billion Middle East-focused e-commerce platform.
“Amazon acquired the Chinese e-commerce company joyo.com to establish a beachhead in China in the early days of online shopping, and we believe can take lessons from that experience to better manage the growth opportunity in the Middle East,” Baird Equity Research analyst Colin Sebastian said in a note.
“Amazon is clearly interested in tapping into growth in emerging markets.”
Amazon to buy online retailer Souq.com
Amazon to buy online retailer Souq.com
First EU–Saudi roundtable on critical raw materials reflects shared policy commitment
RIYADH: The EU–Saudi Arabia Business and Investment Dialogue on Advancing Critical Raw Materials Value Chains, held in Riyadh as part of the Future Minerals Forum, brought together senior policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to advance strategic cooperation across critical raw materials value chains.
Organized under a Team Europe approach by the EU–GCC Cooperation on Green Transition Project, in coordination with the EU Delegation to Saudi Arabia, the European Chamber of Commerce in the Kingdom and in close cooperation with FMF, the dialogue provided a high-level platform to explore European actions under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act and ResourceEU alongside the Kingdom’s aspirations for minerals, industrial, and investment priorities.
This is in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and broader regional ambitions across the GCC, MENA, and Africa.
ResourceEU is the EU’s new strategic action plan, launched in late 2025, to secure a reliable supply of critical raw materials like lithium, rare earths, and cobalt, reducing dependency on single suppliers, such as China, by boosting domestic extraction, processing, recycling, stockpiling, and strategic partnerships with resource-rich nations.
The first ever EU–Saudi roundtable on critical raw materials was opened by the bloc’s Ambassador to the Kingdom, Christophe Farnaud, together with Saudi Deputy Minister for Mining Development Turki Al-Babtain, turning policy alignment into concrete cooperation.
Farnaud underlined the central role of international cooperation in the implementation of the EU’s critical raw materials policy framework.
“As the European Union advances the implementation of its Critical Raw Materials policy, international cooperation is indispensable to building secure, diversified, and sustainable value chains. Saudi Arabia is a key partner in this effort. This dialogue reflects our shared commitment to translate policy alignment into concrete business and investment cooperation that supports the green and digital transitions,” said the ambassador.
Discussions focused on strengthening resilient, diversified, and responsible CRM supply chains that are essential to the green and digital transitions.
Participants explored concrete opportunities for EU–Saudi cooperation across the full value chain, including exploration, mining, and processing and refining, as well as recycling, downstream manufacturing, and the mobilization of private investment and sustainable finance, underpinned by high environmental, social, and governance standards.
From the Saudi side, the dialogue was framed as a key contribution to the Kingdom’s industrial transformation and long-term economic diversification agenda under Vision 2030, with a strong focus on responsible resource development and global market integration.
“Developing globally competitive mineral hubs and sustainable value chains is a central pillar of Saudi Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s industrial transformation. Our engagement with the European Union through this dialogue to strengthen upstream and downstream integration, attract high-quality investment, and advance responsible mining and processing. Enhanced cooperation with the EU, capitalizing on the demand dynamics of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, will be key to delivering long-term value for both sides,” said Al-Babtain.
Valere Moutarlier, deputy director-general for European industry decarbonization, and directorate-general for the internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs at European Commission, said the EU Critical Raw Materials Act and ResourceEU provided a clear framework to strengthen Europe’s resilience while deepening its cooperation with international partners.
“Cooperation with Saudi Arabia is essential to advancing secure, sustainable, and diversified critical raw materials value chains. Dialogues such as this play a key role in translating policy ambitions into concrete industrial and investment cooperation,” she added.
