Daily Deals Site Cobone Acquired by Tiger Global
Middle East daily deals website Cobone announced today that it had been acquired by investors Tiger Global Management. Though no further details about the deal have been made public, the deals sees Jabber Internet Group exit from the company entirely, while founding CEO Paul Kenny and other key management will continue to remain with the site.
Cobone was launched in July 2010, and offers visitors various deals across food & drink, lifestyle, and recently travel packages. The company boasts that to date it's sold over 1.5 million deals, and has offered users savings in excess of $1 million.
While Cobone is certainly the largest daily-deals site in the region, it's unlikely that the site will go along the lines of LivingSocial, a U.S-based daily-deals website which sought to enter the Middle East market by acquiring local website GoNabit in June 2011, but shut down operations only a year later.
(via Wamda)
Edit: Updated 11/3/13 with official press release
Press Release: Cobone.com, the largest daily deal company in the Middle East, has been acquired by international investment firm Tiger Global Management, leaving the startup firm with additional capital to further its long-term commitments in the Middle East.
The deal will see Irish entrepreneur Paul Kenny, founder and current CEO of Cobone.com, maintain his position along other members of Cobone’s leadership team including Warrick Godfrey, Pieter Sleeboom, Tahira Khan and Loai Ayoub while leading Cobone to greater market share and regional expansion.
Cobone was founded in August 2010 by Kenny with backing from the Jabbar Internet Group, and quickly moved to become the Middle East’s leading group buying site, and one of few daily deal sites to possess the potential to compete on a global level in a highly competitive market. Cobone.com is the largest deal site in the Middle East region, and has grown its registered user base to more than 2 million customers, who have thus far saved nearly USD 100 million through the more than 1.5 million coupons sold.
“This deal represents a very exciting future for Cobone as it reaffirms its commitment to the Middle Eastern market and e-commerce industry,” said Paul Kenny. “Tiger Global gives us the international clout and the financial resources to expand regionally and surpass already high customer expectations. Loyal Cobone users can look forward to many exciting developments and innovative offerings in the very near future.”
Samih Toukan, Chairman of Jabbar Internet Group, commented on the deal saying, "This deal represents the international recognition of a highly successful local business. With Paul Kenny, we created a company that lead the way in regional group buying, and took on global players on our own turf. While this deal represents a successful exit for the Jabbar Group, we have little doubt in Cobone’s commitment to the region and in Paul’s determination to continue excelling and leading his brainchild to new successes.”
