Pioneer of ecommerce in the Middle East - Mumzworld signs acquisition deal with regional giant - tamer group

First, regional woman-led ecommerce acquisition - female team to continue leading the Mumzworld business

Dubai, UAE - Mumzworld, the largest mother, baby & child (“MBC”) e-commerce platform in the Middle East, is delighted to announce it has signed a Sales and Purchase Agreement with Tamer Group of Saudi Arabia, for Tamer’s proposed acquisition of a majority stake in Mumzworld.

Tamer Group is one of the largest regional healthcare distributors with its consumer and nutrition divisions and logistics services. Tamer’s annual turnover is 9.2 billion Saudi riyals with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 11%.

Mumzworld and its founders are pioneers of ecommerce focused on the mother, baby & child vertical in the Middle East. The company’s vertical market leadership spans across the entire GCC and the Levant. Importantly, the brand has become the gateway into the Middle Eastern household. Its scale is shown by:

• Market leader status in a high-growth sector with strong unit economics;
• 10x growth over the last five years;
• The largest regional community of 2.5 million mothers who drive strong repeat business;
• Preferred partner for over 5,500 global and regional brands, 250,000 products;
• Proprietary, exclusive distribution of over 15,000 leading international products; and
• The go-to platform for global brands wanting to tap into the lucrative Middle Eastern consumer

The proposed transaction follows ten years of stellar growth by Mumzworld, founded in late 2011 by CEO - Mona Ataya, and CCO - Leena Khalil. The company has demonstrated how to build a scaled ecommerce vertical efficiently with gold standard metrics and utilizing relatively limited resources.

Mumzworld has shaped the very ecosystem in which it operates. The transaction is a significant win and achieves several regional firsts:

• First regional, homegrown ecommerce company acquired by a Saudi, strategic giant;
• Mumzworld - a company built for the region, acquired by the region – now set for an expanded footprint
• First, regional woman-led ecommerce transaction – the leaders of Mumzworld were pioneers in the space and have been instrumental in shaping the changing landscape and disrupting the ecosystem

Mumzworld’s choice to partner with a regional player is a deliberate one, as it allows the company to continue to grow in key regional markets and expand its digital footprint leveraging the many synergies and complementary strengths of Tamer. The transaction also bolsters the significance of digital channels for large conglomerates in the region.

The huge confidence in, and commitment of Mumzworld’s founders and its key leadership, means they will continue to drive the business, sit on the board and remain material shareholders.

The proposed transaction recognizes the strong brand equity and ecosystem creation that Mumzworld has had on the Middle East. It is the only specialized vertical player to fully integrate localised product, community and content thereby creating an unparalleled user experience and supply chain dominance.

Mumzworld is proud to celebrate its 10 year anniversary with Tamer celebrating their 100 year anniversary. Tamer is the largest healthcare distributor in the GCC especially in Saudi Arabia. With a strong footprint in healthcare,  beauty care, prestige products, and FMCG. Furthermore, Tamer’s strong distribution, supply chain and logistics dominance is the right complement to Mumzworld.

The two parties are strongly aligned on Mumzworld’s future strategic direction within Tamer – a strategy of aggressive organic growth, digital transformation and establishing a regional footprint - coupled with sustainability and social impact. Each party has complementary expertise, with potential to enhance the B2B and B2C businesses that Tamer and Mumzworld currently operate in. The transaction will also harness the ideal combination of brand strength, technology, and the existing customer base.

Whilst Mumzworld will retain a high degree of autonomy - including retention of the full Mumzworld management team and Mumzworld branding - the combined platform has scope for enormous synergies in procurement, logistics and infrastructure.

The transaction will give Mumzworld access to a large, committed pool of capital that will allow the business to supercharge its growth. Tamer will also help further institutionalise the business, and use Tamer’s portfolio companies to spur organic growth of Mumzworld.

The regional MBC market is worth over US$10 billion, with the online segment growing approximately 39% per annum, yet online penetration remains in the single digits. A young population, strong birth rates, robust purchasing power and highly digitized consumers with growing e-commerce adoption will continue to drive growth in the online segment particularly in Saudi Arabia - where ecosystem enablers grow, become more efficient and seize the white space market opportunity - and where Mumzworld is set to further widen the gap between it and other players in the market.

Mona Ataya, CEO of Mumzworld, said:

“We are delighted to join the Tamer Group, having created the Middle East’s largest female-led ecommerce business. We have recorded 10x growth over the last five years, and this is just the beginning for us.  We are better positioned than ever to accelerate growth, drive wider geographic expansion and continue to build a tech footprint serving customers better than ever. We will continue to own the supply chain for mother and child; both our customers and suppliers are at the forefront of this next exciting phase for Mumzworld. 

“This new milestone for Mumzworld is a win for the customer with even more customer-centric unique offerings and services, a win for our brand partners driving faster and greater growth and expansion and our Mumzworld team who will continue to shape the ecosystem and anchor Mumzworld as the admired and respected indispensable online extension of a mother’s life. Tamer Group are progressive thinkers and our values and ambitions are aligned. We are intent on digitizing the regional ecosystem, particularly in Saudi Arabia. With Tamer Group’s scale, size, reputation and regional knowhow - our combined complementary entity will be transformative for the region. 

“The large mother, baby & child market is supported by strong market drivers and we look forward to continue our deep entrenchment in this vertical ecosystem, and to the future, with great excitement.”

Ayman Tamer, Chairman of Tamer Group, commented: 

“We are extremely excited to announce our acquisition of Mumzworld. The deal coincides with our 100  year anniversary - operating as the largest healthcare distributor in the region, and major player in FMCG, logistics and beauty care - and this is a further, hugely significant, milestone for Tamer Group. 

“We believe that e-commerce is the future for the GCC. As a major player in the FMCG space, e-commerce is no longer an option, but a necessity. The world has shifted to a customer-centric model with consumer behaviours, trends and data having become the new gold. Players in the space need to understand their customers, and adapt to their changing needs. Mumzworld will be a steppingstone towards “Tamer Digital” - a very ambitious vertical we intend to build to serve the nation, working towards delivering on Saudi’s Vision 2030.”

© Press Release 2021