Saudi Arabia, UAE Billionaire Launch E-Commerce Platform in Middle East

A group of investors led by UAE businessman Mohamed Alabbar and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, launched the largest platform for e-commerce in the Arab world, named “Noon.com.”

In a press conference held in Dubai on Sunday announcing the platform, the Dubai-based billionaire stated that the platform will start its work in Saudi Arabia and the UAE simultaneously in January, and will start by offering 20 million products. The Saudi Wealth Fund will invest in a stake of 50%, while the other half will be owned by Alabbar and other regional investors.

Sources expected that a new e-shopping will enjoy high technical and logistical potential, and will open branches in several Arab countries. The company will also accompany the latest developments in e-commerce, including payment and delivery and consumer rights operations sector.

The e-commerce venture is the latest that Alabbar has been associated with in recent months. Alabbar said last month he planned to launch a social app similar to WhatsApp for the region. In June, a U.A.E.-based investor group he led agreed to buy a majority stake in Kuwait Food Co., which operates KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in the Middle East and North Africa. The group is expected to make a mandatory offer to buy the remaining shares in Kuwait Food.

Alabbar said he expects Noon to be profitable in five years and to enter Egypt and Iraq by 2018. It is also likely to use warehouses owned by Americana, which has three times the warehouse capacity of Aramex, he said.

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