DUBAI: The e-commerce online retail platform announced by Emaar Properties chairman Mohamed Alabbar in November last year has finally been launched.
Noon.com, which was originally planned to launch in January, has started offering an array of products — from smartphones to biscuits — from brands including Apple, Samsung, Burberry, Skechers and McVitie’s.
Customers in the UAE using mobile platforms can download the app available for Android devices via the Google Play Store. A version would be available Apple’s App Store “in the coming days,” while a launch in Saudi Arabia is expected “within the coming weeks,” the company said in a statement.
“Today, we are excited to deliver orders to our first customers. We are proud to take this important first step in our journey, and we are committed to making Noon the region’s Arabic-first e-commerce platform,” Alabbar said in the statement.
“As digital technologies cause disruptions across industries and geographies, it is important for us to shape a digital marketplace that is relevant to our local markets and serves as a growth platform for brick-and-mortar retailers.”
The $1 billion e-commerce project is a joint venture between Emaar’s Alabbar, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the Kuwaiti franchise operator MH Alshaya.
Noon.com was launched as an “Arabic-first” platform, with offices in Dubai and Riyadh, the company said.
E-commerce site Noon.com finally goes live
E-commerce site Noon.com finally goes live
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No Saudi acquisition offers: FC Barcelona tells Al-Eqtisadiah
CAIRO: FC Barcelona has not received any offers, whether from Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, to acquire the club, according to an official source who spoke to Al-Eqtisadiah.
According to the source, the circulating news regarding the possibility of finalizing a deal to acquire the club in the coming period is a mere rumor.
Recent Spanish reports had indicated the possibility of a Saudi acquisition of Barcelona shares for around €10 billion ($11.7 billion), a move considered capable of saving the club from its financial crises if it were to happen, especially as it suffers from debts estimated at around €2.5 billion.
Sale not in management’s hands
Joan Gaspart, the former president of the club, confirmed that the current board of directors, chaired by Joan Laporta, does not have the right to dispose of the club’s ownership.
He added: “FC Barcelona is owned by about 150,000 members, and selling the club is something the owners will not accept. FC Barcelona possesses something no other club in the world has; money is very important, and so is passion, but the sentiment of the members today is to continue what the club has been for 125 years.”
High market value
Despite the financial crisis the club has been going through in recent years, FC Barcelona ranks sixth on the list of the world’s highest market value clubs, with an estimated value of €1.12 billion, according to Transfermarkt. Meanwhile, its rival Real Madrid tops the list with a market value of €1.38 billion.
