Anghami, the leading music-streaming service for residents of North Africa and the Middle East, claims to be fielding multiple equity-investment offers and acquisition proposals.
In a recent interview, Anghami co-founder Elie Habib confirmed previous reports that his company is evaluating investment and buyout bids. Specifically, Habib said that Anghami has “been approached by multiple parties” and that he and other company officials are “contemplating” the suggested agreements.
However, while Habib made clear that he is open to closing a buyout deal, he also said, “We’re not going to sell out just to sell out,” before reiterating that potential purchasers must be committed to assuring the platform’s long-term success.
Lastly, Habib stated that he and Eddy Maroun (Anghami’s co-founder and CEO) are in no hurry to sell, as their streaming service is one of the few to have already achieved profitability.
With approximately 73 million users and 31 million songs to its credit, Anghami has reportedly been offered somewhere around $400 million to sell. The brand was founded in 2012 and, as the first legal music streaming service in the Arab world, has inked a number of high-profile, growth-minded deals.
The region’s independent record companies quickly jumped at the opportunity to promote their songs to millions of listeners, as did the Big Three record labels.
The Lebanon-based company then reached agreements with cell phone service providers (who were eager to form partnerships and to cut back on piracy) and other media brands, gaining additional popularity as the Middle Eastern and Northern African music industries grew. (For instance, Anghami has been prominently featured on Arab Idol.)
Like Spotify, Anghami offers both free and paid versions; the latter comes ad-free and allows users to download songs and play them offline, in addition to importing music from non-Anghami sources.
Earlier this month, it was reported that India’s largest music streaming service, Gaana, had secured over 150 million subscribers and a top position in the country. All signs indicate that emerging markets are becoming increasingly lucrative for streaming services, though global heavyweights like Spotify and Apple Music are struggling to establish front-running positions.
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