Anghami, the prime music streaming medium in the MENA region is driving the public by combining with a specific objective investment corporation. A SPAC is also recognized as a blank-cheque corporation and is built to increase through an IPO with the target to purchase a present corporation and take it public.
The SPAC Anghami is combined with is Vistas Media Acquisition Company which is spreadhead by F. Jacob Cherian and co-founders Saurabh Gupta and Abhayanand Singh. Vistas had gone public on Nasdaq around 6 months ago in a $100 million IPO. Anghami as a result of the deal would become the first Arab technology corporation to list on Nasdaq and would trade below the symbol “ANGH”.
The transaction is required to close in the 2nd quarter of 2021 and implies in starting pro-formal corporation valuation of around $220 million, 2.5×2022 estimated earnings. As the report by Anghami points out, this compared to Spotify’s recent earning many of 6.5x earnings.
Established in 2022 by Eddy Maroun and Elie Habib in Lebanon, Anghami recently gives more than 57 million songs to over 70 million reported utilizers, recording around one billion creeks per month. The startup that currently shifted its headquarters to Abu Dhabi has an office in Dubai, Riyadh, Beirut, and Cairo. This has increased a little more than $25 million from prime business people in the sector comprising Samena Capital, MBC Ventures, and Middle East Venture Partners. The business people own 68% of the corporation with the remains possessed by the founder of the Anghami. Around 60 workers of the corporation also own its inventory choices.
The deal comprises $40 million of merged dedications in a PIPE from the Shuaa Captial of the UAE and Singapore-located Vistas Media corporation parent of the SPAC sponsor. Anghami requires to hold $142 million of cash on its balance sheet at the conclusion that would be utilized to fuel the development of the corporation.
Jassim Alseddiqi, Group CEO of SHUAA, stated, “We are pleased to be directing the PIPE for Anghami’s business blend with VMAC in what would accelerate the development of the Anghami and create its success as a pioneer in the music streaming space in the MENA region. SHUAA spreadhead financing round for Anghami previous in the year and has been performing near with the staff to protect the PIPE investment and serve a successful listing on Nasdaq. Moreover, the increased reputation and reach to capital that comes with a listing on Nasdaq accelerates the evolvement journey of the corporation.”
Elie Habib, the co-founder of Anghami told that they were not thinking about going public a year ago, “We began performing in the SPAC in mid-November. This is a method good to do a SPAC to increase money if your framework is appropriate. With reach to equity markets, we can constantly increase the corporation on our own cases without having to think about the exit. We had also tried to fundraise a year ago understood that the market wasn’t good for fundraising. Then we transformed our responsibilities on development utilizing our internal cash flow.”
The Abu Dhabi headquartered startup set the targets to enhance its entry into existing markets and start its products in other same rising markets. Anghami had presented music streaming in the Middle East in 2012 but is facing competition from global competitors for the past three years after its extension to the sector.
SPACs have become a very famous tool for corporations in the past 18 months to go public. Elie hopes that their listing on Nasdaq would encourage other Middle Eastern startups to take similar moves but he also warns that SPACs aren’t for each corporation.
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