When JadoPado announced the abrupt closure of its online marketplace in a blog post on 1st May, followed by the news of its acquisition by an unnamed Middle Eastern company it sent the digital world into a tailspin.
It’s now emerged that the acquisition of JadoPado was by a technology fund led by Dubai businessman Mohamed Alabbar.
The news comes just weeks after the Emaar founder Alabbar lost out to Amazon on the acquisition of another UAE online marketplace, souq.com, for a reported $600 million. In a bid to expand into the region, Amazon had been in exclusive talks with souq.com and a deal was finalised in March.
It emerged this weekend that JadoPado had been acquired by the $1 billion technology investment fund that Alabbar announced he was setting up last year - Noon.com Noon.com has yet to launch, after it missed its planned January launch date and the site is currently under construction.
This is the latest move in what will likely be a battle of the e-commerce titans.