Saudi Arabia’s MBC Group Holdings has acquired a total of 4,074,533 ordinary shares, representing a 13.7% stake in the music streaming platform Anghami, according to a disclosure on the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where the company is listed.
The financial terms of the investment have not been disclosed. However, the purchase was estimated to have had a cost of around $4.074 million, based on Anghami’s closing price of $1.00 on March 19, the last trading day before the transaction was disclosed.
MBC Group, formerly known as the Middle East Broadcasting Center, is a state-owned media conglomerate in Saudi Arabia, listed on the Saudi Exchange.
The Saudi company went public in January, raising SAR831 million ($221.6 million) from the IPO, resulting in an implied market capitalisation of SAR8.3 billion ($2.21 billion).
Anghami, founded in 2012 by entrepreneurs Eddy Maroun and Elie Habib in Lebanon, was the first Arab tech company to be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, in February 2022.
The music streaming platform has amassed a subscriber base exceeding 1.73 million users across the MENA region as of the third quarter of 2023. However, the firm still faces stiff competition from global giants like Spotify, which has also set its sights on the MENA market.
Anghami’s share price surged by 59% following the public disclosure of MBC’s stake, underscoring the significance of the partnership in the MENA media landscape.
