Back to the complete issue
Thursday, 18 November 2021

Anghami eyes December Nasdaq listing

Anghami to complete SPAC merger + list on Nasdaq in December: Emirati music streaming service Anghami will pull the trigger on its SPAC merger and list on the Nasdaq at the end of December, Hossam El Gamal, the company’s VP for North Africa, told Enterprise. The Abu Dhabi-based company is merging with blank-check firm Vistas Media Acquisition Company in a transaction that implies an enterprise value of around USD 220 mn (pdf). Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, reported earlier this year that the company could be worth some USD 300 mn following the listing. Gamal declined to confirm the transaction value when we asked yesterday.

Who’s in? The SPAC has raised at least USD 40 mn, with USD 30 mn coming from Shuaa Capital and USD 10 mn from Vistas’ parent company. Shuaa led a funding round for Anghami earlier this year and is acting as its financial advisor and underwriter in the transaction.

About Anghami: The company says it has more than 70 mn registered users, receiving around 1 bn streams each month. Revenues have jumped 80% since 2018 and are projected to rise five-fold over the coming three years. It will have around USD 142 mn in cash on its balance sheet when the transaction closes, which will be deployed for further expansion.

Part of the proceeds from the listing will be allocated for investment in its operations in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. “We want to have a deeper penetration into high-growth, high revenue markets,” co-founder Elie Habib told Bloomberg earlier this year.

Anghami and Egypt-grown, UAE-based Swvl are in a race to become the first Middle Eastern tech company to list on the Nasdaq: The Egyptian mass transportation app is also hoping to close its blank-check merger and list on the exchange in December or January.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.