- Abu Dhabi-headquartered company agrees to merge with Vistas Media Acquisition Company.
- Listing expected to allow Anghami to scale its user base and invest in technology to build on its data play.
Abu Dhabi-headquartered Anghami, which operates a music streaming app popular in the Middle East and North Africa, said on Wednesday it will become the first Arab tech company to list on the Nasdaq after agreeing to merge with Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc.
“We have taken a significant step forward in our growth plans in seeking to become the region’s first Arab technology company to list on Nasdaq. Being a US-listed public company gives us access to growth capital and a global platform that is the best in the world,” Eddy Maroun, Co-founder and CEO of Anghami, said in a statement.
Shuaa Capital psc, the UAE’s publicly listed asset management and investment banking firm and Vistas Media Capital Singapore, the parent of the sponsor for Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc., have gathered commitments of a combined $40 million ($30 million from Shuaa and $10 million from Vistas Media Capital) in PIPE financing.
Shuaa also led a funding round for Anghami earlier in the year. The transaction implies an initial pro-forma enterprise valuation of approximately $220 million, or 2.5x 2022 estimated revenues.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.
Challenging Spotify
Founded in 2012, by Eddy Maroun and Elie Habib, Anghami offers more than 57 million songs to more than 70 million registered users with around one billion streams per month. Its biggest competitor is Its main competition is Spotify, which became available in the region in late 2018.
With an Arabic speaking population of over 450 million globally, the listing is expected to allow Anghami to scale its user base and invest in technology to build on its data play.
Anghami’s management team will continue to operate and manage Anghami following the transaction. Co-founder and Chairman Elie Habib will continue as the CTO; F. Jacob Cherian, CEO of Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc. is expected to join the company as Co-CEO for a period of one year.
Anghami has grown revenues 80 per cent over the last three years and is expected to increase five-fold over the next three years and it is expected to have approximately $142 million of cash on its balance sheet at closing to be used primarily to fuel additional growth.
It is also receiving support from the state-run Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) to develop its global headquarters and a tech and research and development centre in Abu Dhabi.
Anghami is backed by leading MENA venture capital firms and strategic shareholders, including media groups and telecommunications companies that collectively own approximately 68 per cent of Anghami, with the balance owned by the founders.