E-commerce company Noon, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Dubai billionaire Mohamed Alabbar, has completed the acquisition of fashion retailer Namshi. 

The Riyadh-headquartered online marketplace said on Monday that the acquisition is with immediate effect and will expand Noon’s products and services. 

Last August, Noon secured an agreement with real estate developer Emaar Properties to buy the entire share capital of Emaar Malls in Namshi for AED 1.23 billion ($334.9 million). 

“Namshi is now part of Noon’s digital ecosystem, and the acquisition is effective immediately,” the company said in a statement. 

Noon said Namshi will remain a separate entity and that it will continue to support the fashion retailer’s growth within the company. The fashion platform, which has been serving customers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other countries since 2011, has more than 1,200 brands. 

 “This merger will enable Namshi to make deep and long-term investments… and in the months and years to come, our customers and partners can look forward to better assortment, priing and service as these investments are realised,” said Hisham Zarka, CTO of Noon Group and Co-founder of Namshi. 

With the acquisition, Noon will be able to “reach out to new audiences”, noted Dhruv Paul, Group General Counsel of Noon Group. 

(Reporting by Cleofe Maceda; editing by seban Scaria) 

Cleofe.maceda@lseg.com