Amazon Acquisition Set to Disrupt Trade in the Middle East

Amazon has bought the largest e-commerce site in the Middle East which gets over 45 million visits per month.

According to Goldman Sachs, the purchase of Souq.com is “the biggest-ever technology M&A transaction in the Arab world” and is considered to be Amazon’s first foray in the Arab world. Although Amazon has not officially revealed details of the deal, the Financial Times has revealed a last-minute bid between US$650 and US$750 million was submitted to grab a foothold in the booming market. Souq was valued at US$1 billion in its last funding round last year. The move reveals Amazon’s huge interest in the Middle East.

Acquisitions are not new to the printer consumables industry. Now the global retail giants are making their moves to capture the retail side of the industry. They are moving quickly in many regions to change consumer consumption habits and entering the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region will challenge the traditional offline distribution channels for printer consumables.

Amazon is also set to disrupt the markets in Australia, and the Commonwealth Bank found that 30 percent of retailers there, are unaware of it. Analysts suggest awareness of the “potential disruption in the EMEA is much, much higher.”

To compete in these new circumstances, companies that operate in the EMEA region should be aware of the change that will take place there.

Hundreds of imaging business leaders and managers will head to Cairo on April 23 to discuss the trends, threats and opportunities at the printing consumables summit. The RT Imaging Summit & Expo—EMEA 2017 will be held on April 23 & 24 at the InterContinental Hotel CityStars in Cairo, Egypt. It is the only dedicated, printer consumables event in the EMEA. Experts from printer consumables industry will share their insights about the market trends, legal issues and the latest technologies to impact the US$80 billion global industry.

Pre-registration is open for the Summit. For more information about the expo and summit, please visit: https://www.rtmworld.com/2d/events/rtise-emea2017/

(Photo source: opi.net)