DUBAI: Tech giant Amazon expanded its global reach Tuesday with the announcement of a deal to buy Souq.com, the Middle East’s largest online retailer.
The agreement, the financial details of which were not disclosed, brings Amazon into a fast-growing market as it continues to invest in its core retail network despite expanding into a wide range of services.
It appears competition was fierce to acquire Souq.com, with the Amazon deal announced just a day after Dubai-based Emaar Malls confirmed offering $800 million to acquire the site.
Amazon had walked away from talks with Souq.com earlier this year, but it reportedly came back with an offer of $650 million.
Founded in 2005 as an auction site, Souq.com has evolved into a retailer and a marketplace for third-party sellers. The company says it attracts more than 24 million unique visits per month.
In a joint statement announcing the agreement, the two companies said the deal would be finalized this year “subject to closing conditions.”
Souq.com chief executive officer and co-founder Ronaldo Mouchawar called the agreement “a critical next step in growing our e-commerce presence on behalf of customers across the region.”
“By becoming part of the Amazon family, we’ll be able to vastly expand our delivery capabilities and customer selection much faster, as well as continue Amazon’s great track record of empowering sellers,” he said in the statement.
Amazon senior vice president Russ Grandinetti said the deal made sense as both companies “share the same DNA.”
“We’re both driven by customers, invention and long-term thinking,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to both learning from and supporting them with Amazon technology and global resources.”
Souq.com won a major vote of confidence last year and emerged as the highest-valued Internet company in the region when it secured $275 million in funding from international investors to support its growth.
At the time, Mouchawar said the e-commerce market in the Middle East was “growing very fast” and expected to reach $20 billion in 2016.
Souq.com attracts over 45 million visits per month.
Known for its huge online retail operations, Amazon has been expanding into areas including cloud computing and streaming video where it is trying to rival Netflix.
But retail remains at its core, with its retail operations taking in $26 billion in North America and $14 billion in the rest of the world in the last quarter of 2016.
Amazon expands global reach with Souq.com buy
Amazon expands global reach with Souq.com buy
Saudi Arabia’s construction costs see 1% annual rise in November: GASTAT
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s construction costs rose at a steady pace in November, signaling resilience in the sector as the Kingdom continues to manage rising labor and energy expenses.
The Construction Cost Index climbed to 101.75 points in November, up 1 percent from a year earlier and broadly unchanged from October, according to data from the General Authority for Statistics.
The steady momentum in Saudi Arabia’s construction sector aligns with a broader trend across the Gulf Cooperation Council, as regional economies push to diversify away from hydrocarbons.
In July, real estate consultancy Knight Frank said Saudi Arabia’s construction output value is expected to reach $191 billion by 2029, representing a 29.05 percent increase from 2024, driven by residential development, ongoing giga-projects and rising demand for office space.
In its latest report, GASTAT stated: “The CCI recorded a 1 percent increase in November 2025, maintaining the same growth rate observed in October 2025. This increase is mainly attributed to a 1 percent rise in construction costs for the residential sector and a 1 percent rise in construction costs for the non-residential sector.”
In the residential sector, labor costs rose 1.5 percent year on year in November, while equipment and machinery rental costs increased 1.3 percent over the same period.
Energy prices recorded a sharp increase of 9.9 percent compared with November 2024.
Basic material costs edged up 0.2 percent, driven by a 1.4 percent rise in cement and concrete prices and a 1.1 percent increase in raw material costs.
In the non-residential sector, the Construction Cost Index increased 1 percent year on year in November, mainly due to a 1.2 percent rise in equipment and machinery rental costs.
Labor costs increased 1.1 percent, while energy prices continued their upward trend, rising 9.9 percent over the year.
Basic material costs rose 0.3 percent, reflecting a 2.5 percent increase in wood and carpentry prices and a 1.4 percent rise in raw material costs.
The Construction Cost Index tracks changes in construction input costs across 51 items, with prices collected monthly from 13 regions through field surveys of contractors, engineering offices and construction material suppliers. The base year is 2023, and the index is published monthly.
