Aramex, the Middle East's biggest courier company, has completed the acquisition of Florida-based e-commerce platform MyUS for an all-cash price of about $265 million after securing the necessary regulatory approval.
The deal marks Aramex’s largest acquisition to date as it seeks to become more competitive in the cross-border e-commerce sector, the Dubai-listed company said in a statement on Wednesday. A binding agreement to fully acquire the platform was initially announced in June.
"Our shareholders will immediately see the impact on financial performance and over the long term we can unlock further value through operational and cost synergies," said Othman Aljeda, chief executive of Aramex.
"Our customers are set to benefit from further enhanced network coverage and service excellence from first to last mile. Our employees will benefit from knowledge sharing, further developing their expertise in the cross-border express business, including learning and adopting MyUS’s leading proprietary software."
Aramex in August reported a 32 per cent annual decline in second-quarter net income to Dh44.6 million ($12.1m) as revenue fell due to lower courier volumes.
The global logistics industry is reporting a slowdown in e-commerce activity as consumers return to brick-and-mortar shops with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, while higher inflation rates are also squeezing discretionary spending, Mr Aljeda said at the time.
MyUS will be fully integrated into Aramex’s courier business segment, the statement said.
It will retain its brand name and will complement Shop & Ship, Aramex’s subscription-based last mile e-commerce services platform.
"We are ready to take our products and solutions to new markets by leveraging on Aramex’s extensive global network, scale, knowledge and expertise in markets exhibiting very attractive characteristics such as the Mena region, the UK and Australia," said Ramesh Bulusu, chief executive of MyUS.
"Together with Aramex, we will work on developing a joint business plan to unlock revenue and operational synergies to help grow the cross-border e-commerce business ... ultimately, our goal under Aramex’s ownership is to accelerate our growth in a fragmented multi-trillion-dollar global e-commerce market.”
The acquisition is expected to further strengthen Aramex’s cross-border express business by increasing shipment volumes, growing its customer base and expanding coverage in new origins and destinations, Aramex said.
The deal is also expected to be "immediately value accretive" for Aramex, providing robust growth in revenue, attractive profitability and "superior" cash conversion, it added.
In 2021, MyUS recorded more than $100m in revenue and delivered 1.1 million packages to customers who shop from retailers based in the US, UK and China. The company has about 180,000 active customers.
EFG Hermes, Egypt's biggest investment bank, said in a research note that the transaction would accrete value to shareholders even on very conservative assumptions.
The lender's back-of-the-envelope analysis suggests that the transaction is yielding an unlevered internal rate of return of more than 12 per cent and would potentially add $75m to $80m in equity value or Dh0.2 per share.
"From a funding perspective, Aramex continues to have a very healthy balance sheet: its net-debt/Ebitda [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation] would still be below 1x even after the transaction," it said.
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NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
Planes grounded by coronavirus
British Airways: Cancels all direct flights to and from mainland China
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific: Cutting capacity to/from mainland China by 50 per cent from Jan. 30
Chicago-based United Airlines: Reducing flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
Ai Seoul: Suspended all flights to China
Finnair: Suspending flights to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March
Indonesia's Lion Air: Suspending all flights to China from February
South Korea's Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air and Jin Air: Suspend all flights
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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'Peninsula'
Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Ra
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Rating: 2/5
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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SPECS
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Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
