Exiting 2020: Our roundup of the year's top acquisition deals
Whilst I'm sure that we are all glad to soon be exiting a year that we will never forget, it was nevertheless still a noteworthy year for exits in the region! MAGNiTT data revealed that 2019 saw a total of 27 startup exits, while 2020 YTD has seen a total 16 exits take place (as of November 2020), highlighting a decline of 41%.
Whether this has been an effect of the current climate or not, we have still witnessed several large and industry impactful acquisition deals take place this year and we believe it's important to highlight them as the year comes to a close.
Discover our roundup of 2020's acquisition deals below.
Top disclosed exits of 2020:
Peak Games and Zynga (Turkey)
Back in June, Zynga, a global leader in interactive entertainment, announced it acquired Peak, the globally successful mobile gaming company, for a hefty $1.8B. This monumental transaction put a global venture spotlight on Turkey's startup ecosystem.
Sidar Sahin, Founder and CEO of Peak commented, “This is a monumental partnership not only for Zynga and Peak but for the whole mobile gaming industry."
Check out our Webinar on the evolution of Turkey’s startup ecosystem to learn more about the state of the Turkish entrepreneurial space.
Instashop and Delivery Hero (UAE)
Online grocery delivery platform InstaShop announced that it had been acquired by Germany-based Delivery Hero, for a total valuation of $360M, in August of this year. The transaction marked the next step in Delivery Hero’s quest to pioneer q-commerce (the next generation of e-commerce).
John Tsioris, CEO & Founder of InstaShop said, “The partnership with Delivery Hero is a great opportunity for us to continue to grow our business and put the group’s expertise to use. Delivery Hero is a network-driven by ambitious founders and entrepreneurs just like ourselves, and we are proud to become part of this family.”
Instashop has been backed by Jabbar Internet Group and VentureFriends, a European early-stage investor based in Greece. This exit marked a record for the Greek tech ecosystem as well as a key exit for the MENA region.
Qproperties.qa and Tevalu (Qatar)
Tevalu, a multinational technology company that specialises in internet-related services and products, acquired Qproperties, a real estate property portal based in Qatar, for $0.1M in June of this year.
Full details of the deal appear to be absent within the ecosystem. However, you can discover more about Qproperties on their MAGNiTT profile.
Other notable undisclosed exits:
The region witnessed many additional acquisitions across a variety of industries and geographies, including two Healthcare-focused deals in Jordan and Egypt, to bridge a gap in the industry and to merge forces with Pharmaceutical leading distributors. Elsewhere, an advertising and data platform was acquired to revolutionise the region's Adtech space, whilst an audiobook and e-book streaming services acquisition allowed for consumers to access the richest Arabic audiobook library in the world.
Alongside this, we saw a double KSA-focused acquisition in the world of 3D printing, a drone-based solution exit to integrate platforms, and more.
Looking for full details and a comprehensive list of all exits that took place in the year?
Get details on all Exits in 2020!
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