LivingSocial acquires Middle East group buying website GoNabit

Press release

Published June 27th, 2011 - 02:49 GMT

Al Bawaba

LivingSocial, the online source for handpicked experiences at a great value, today announced it has acquired GoNabit, a daily deal pioneer with a presence in four Middle Eastern countries; Ensogo, the market-leading deal site in Thailand and the Philippines; and DealKeren, an Ensogo company based in Indonesia. LivingSocial also introduced Daily Deals in the Netherlands.

These three acquisitions and the Netherlands launch bring the total number of countries in which LivingSocial operates to 21. The company’s reach now spans six of the seven continents. Ensogo, with members in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, marks the first LivingSocial acquisition in Asia.

“As with previous acquisitions, LivingSocial has again chosen to align with local companies that possess similar values and ways of doing business,” said Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO and co-founder, LivingSocial. “We are excited to enter the dynamic Asian market and our presence in the Middle East and the Netherlands further strengthens our strategic global efforts to bring LivingSocial values to members across the globe.”

GoNabit was co-founded by Dan Stuart and Sohrab Jahanbani in January 2010 and is currently the leading daily deal provider based in the United Arab Emirates. The site also presents family friendly offers suitable for children and parents alike, with Dubai Family, as well as travel-specific deals through GoNabit Getaways. In addition to being the first group-buying site in the Middle East/North Africa, GoNabit is the first company of its kind to offer deals in Arabic. Members in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Dubai, Beirut, Cairo and Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Ajman have saved more than $5 million USD in the past year.

A milestone in the development of the Middle East’s group-buying industry, the announcement marks the first large-scale acquisition of an e-commerce company in the region, as well as LivingSocial’s entry to this market.

“GoNabit’s acquisition by prominent local commerce player LivingSocial demonstrates not only our achievements as a homegrown group-buying website, but also significant maturity in regional e-commerce. Under the LivingSocial name, we are committed to bringing great deal experiences to our customers and savvy marketing options to our merchant partners. This acquisition gives us the opportunity to bring world leading group-buying expertise and the latest in technological developments to e-commerce in the Middle East,” said Dan Stuart, CEO and Co-founder, GoNabit.com.

Officially launched in June 2010, Ensogo is known as the No. 1 social shopping website in Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia and currently serves more than 800,000 members. It continues to gain massive popularity and trust among Asian consumers as the market share leader, and Ensogo members have saved more than $25 million USD in the past year. Ensogo is backed by Rebate Networks, a leading international VC specializing in the social commerce space.

Ensogo, DealKeren and GoNabit users will enjoy the same deal-buying experience to which they are accustomed.

Terms of the deals were not released.

Background Information

LivingSocial

LivingSocial adds surprise to every calendar with handpicked daily deals you can share with friends. Members enjoy at least 50% off on the coolest, local experiences.

Local business owners get an easy and cost effective marketing tool to attract new, loyal customers. In 2010, one of the fastest growing companies in the space expanded with LivingSocial Escapes offering easy weekend trips at great value.

In April, LivingSocial has unveiled Instant Deals – real-time, mobile offerings delivered via members smart phones featuring deals within 0.5 miles of their location.

Based in Washington, DC, the international brand and has saved nearly 30 million subscribers more than half a billion dollars in 21 countries on 6 continents.