DUBAI, UAE, March 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Cobone.com, the largest daily deal company in the Middle East, has been acquired by international investment firm Tiger Global Management, leaving the startup firm with additional capital to further its long-term commitments in the Middle East.
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The deal will see Irish entrepreneur Paul Kenny, founder and current CEO of Cobone.com, maintain his position along other members of Cobone's leadership team including Warrick Godfrey, Pieter Sleeboom, Tahira Khan and Loai Ayoub while leading Cobone to greater market share and regional expansion.
Cobone was founded in August 2010 by Kenny with backing from the Jabbar Internet Group, and quickly moved to become the Middle East's leading group buying site, and one of few daily deal sites to possess the potential to compete on a global level in a highly competitive market. Cobone.com is the largest deal site in the Middle East region, and has grown its registered user base to more than 2 million customers, who have thus far saved nearly USD 100 million through the more than 1.5 million coupons sold.
"This deal represents a very exciting future for Cobone as it reaffirms its commitment to the Middle Eastern market and e-commerce industry," said Paul Kenny. "Tiger Global gives us the international clout and the financial resources to expand regionally and surpass already high customer expectations. Loyal Cobone users can look forward to many exciting developments and innovative offerings in the very near future."
Samih Toukan, Chairman of Jabbar Internet Group, commented on the deal, saying, "This deal represents the international recognition of a highly successful local business. With Paul Kenny, we created a company that led the way in regional group buying, and took on global players on our own turf. While this deal represents a successful exit for the Jabbar Group, we have little doubt in Cobone's commitment to the region and in Paul's determination to continue excelling and leading his brainchild to new successes."
About Cobone.com
Launched in July 2010 in Dubai, as part of the Jabbar Internet Group, Cobone features a daily market-focused deal on the best things to do, see, eat and buy in cities across the Middle East. Cobone is an easy and fun way to get fantastic deals on great experiences in your city. The company was founded by Paul Kenny, an Irish entrepreneur.
About Jabbar
Jabbar Internet Group is one of the leading Internet Groups in the Arab World. Jabbar was established in 2009 by Samih Toukan and Hussam Khoury the founders of Maktoob.com after the sale of Maktoob to Yahoo!. Jabbar also founded Souq.com and its group of companies which is now the largest ecommerce group in the region. The group assets today extend from e-commerce sites to online games to advertising products and its vision extends to building groundbreaking new companies that will continue to shape the Internet Industry in the Arab World.
About Tiger Global Management, LLC
Tiger Global Management, LLC is an investment firm that deploys capital globally through its private investment and hedge fund partnerships. The firm's private investment funds have ten-year investment horizons and focus on growth-oriented private companies in the global Internet and technology sectors. Tiger Global's private investments include Facebook, Linkedin, SurveyMonkey, Square, Yandex, Mail.ru Group, Ctrip, New Oriental, 360buy, Flipkart, Makemytrip, Justdial, Netshoes, Despegar, MercadoLibre, Trendyol, and Eventbrite. The firm's fundamentally oriented hedge funds invest primarily in public equities with an emphasis on long-term trends in the global technology, telecom, media, and consumer sectors. Tiger Global Management, LLC was founded in 2001 and is based in New York with affiliate offices in Beijing and Singapore.
Further information, please contact:
Mr. Joe Akkawi
PAZ Marketing Management
PR and Events
Tel: +971-4-2980808
Email: joe.akkawi@pazmarketing.com
Ms. Miya Billones
PAZ Marketing Management
PR and Events
Tel: +971-4-2980808
Email: miya.billones@pazmarketing.com
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