Opinion: The rise of startup acquisitions in the Middle East

Opinion: The rise of startup acquisitions in the Middle East

If you're someone who follows the startup space in the Middle East & North Africa, you must have observed an uptick in notable mergers and acquisitions in 2021 compared to previous years. In the last two months alone, Tamer Group  acquired  Mumzworld, Aleph Holding acquired the  majority  in Connect Ads, Bevy acquired  Eventtus, Halan merged with MNT,  Abwaab acquired  Edmatrix, and SRMG acquired 51 percent stake in  Thmanyah.

None of these acquisitions are as big as Uber-Careem, Amazon-Souq, or even Delivery Hero-InstaShop deals but the increase in M&A activity is noteworthy. I believe Covid-19 has contributed in a big way to this boom.

As a result of the pandemic, some startups  stood to benefit from the rapid change in consumer habits - mainly because they were already building for the "new normal" (e.g. fintechs, edtechs, healthtech startups, grocery delivery, and ecommerce). On the other hand, offline-focused players, including brick and mortar stores and restaurants, physical events, outdoor advertising, and many more, took a big hit on their revenue and overall business. Many of them had to either pivot, cut costs, or even completely shut down. This double-sided snowball growth or decline ultimately made some companies big enough to acquire others, lucrative enough