Naspers sells stake in Souq.com to Amazon in giant technology merger

Dubai — Naspers has sold its 36.4% stake in Souq.com to Amazon.com for an undisclosed amount. Naspers, along with the Middle East online retailer’s other shareholders, which include Tiger Global Management, sold Souq.com to Amazon for what deal adviser Goldman Sachs called "the biggest ever technology merger and acquisition transaction in the Arab world." Amazon walked away from the deal earlier this year, but returned to thwart a last-minute bid by Dubai billionaire Mohamed Alabbar’s Emaar Malls. Sources with knowledge of the matter said Amazon was paying less than Emaar’s $800m offer, making it lower than the $1bn valuation at the time of a Souq.com funding round last year. One of the sources said on Monday that Souq.com would have had to break an exclusivity agreement with Amazon if it had accepted the Emaar Malls offer at this stage. Reuters reported last week that Amazon had agreed in principle to buy Souq.com, which was co-founded 12 years ago by Syrian-born entrepreneur Ronal...