OSN+ and Anghami merge in $50m streaming service deal

Simon Holmes via Reuters Connect

• OSN invests $50m in Anghami
• Worth 4 times share price
• 120m users across platforms

Middle East streaming service OSN is set to invest $50 million in music streamer Anghami as part of a deal to merge the two companies.

Kuwait’s Kipco-Panther Media Group, which operates as OSN, will combine its streaming service OSN+ with Anghami’s music and entertainment business to create one of the Middle East’s largest streaming platforms.

OSN will invest in Anghami at $3.65 per share, 3.9 times the stock’s average price for the past month.

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The investment gives OSN a majority stake in Anghami and brings together over 120 million registered users and more than 2.5 million paying subscribers, and more than $100 million in revenue at closing.

Joe Kawkabani, CEO of OSN Group, said the new offering will “change the face of the regional streaming landscape”.

Anghami boasts a catalogue of over 100 million songs, with exclusives from artists such as Amr Diab. OSN+ has more than 18,000 hours of video content and partnerships with international studios such as HBO, NBC Universal and Paramount, along with Arabic and Turkish studios.

The deal is expected to be finalised early next year.

Anghami is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, and will remain there after the deal.

OSN will continue to run its linear TV business OSNtv, according to a joint statement on Tuesday.

Elie Habib, co-founder of Anghami – meaning “My Tunes” in Arabic – is set to be the CEO of the combined business.

The music streaming market in the Middle East and Africa is expected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2019 to $3.2 billion by 2027, a compound annual growth rate of 9.5 percent, according to Research and Markets.

In April 2021 Abu Dhabi-based Anghami became the first Middle East tech company to list on the New York stock exchange after merging with SPAC Vistas Media Acquisition Company. The deal valued the music streaming service at $220 million.

The Europe, Middle East and Africa region, as of September, boasted a total of 2,184 streaming platforms with a content library comprising 635,000 movies and series across 137 countries and territories, according to data from media and entertainment analysts BB Media.

In August, SRMG Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Saudi media company behind brands such as Asharq Business and Arab News, invested $5 million in Anghami.