BinDawood Holding pushes further into ecommerce and technology with Ykone acquisition

BinDawood Holding —

BinDawood Holding pushes further into ecommerce and technology with Ykone acquisition

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 27 July 2022 – BinDawood Holding Co. (Tadawul: 4161 and the “Company”), through its wholly owned subsidiary, Future Technology Retail (“FTR”), a technology and retail solutions investment company, announces the acquisition of a 80.5 % stake in Ykone, a subsidiary of TF1 Group, a French leader in content production, publishing and distribution. The transaction will be completed through FTR’s newly established French subsidiary company.

Ykone is a profitable international influencer marketing agency with a proprietary technology offering, focused on travel, beauty, fashion and luxury brands, with a presence in Europe, Asia, the US and the Middle East. It provides end to end services on strategy, talent management, content production and monitoring to more than 200 leading brands across the globe including the MENA region. The strategic investment will position BinDawood Holding to maximize on the growth of retail ecommerce through digital marketing, and to further deepen its e-commerce value chain.

In turn, Ykone will benefit from the financial and commercial support of BinDawood Holding to further improve its technological platform, to diversify into other industry segments and verticals and to gain deeper access to the Middle East markets where it has already achieved some success and penetration. Influencer marketing is now considered to be at the heart of e-commerce and is set to grow to approximately $16.4 Billion in 2022¹, with the Middle East witnessing growing social media influencer activity because of its young demographic profile and the high penetration of smart phone users.

Ahmad AR. BinDawood, Chief Executive Officer, BinDawood Holding said: “The acquisition of Ykone represents another important milestone in Future Technology Retail’s ambition to invest in all segments of the retail e-commerce value chain. Social influencer marketing has accelerated worldwide due to a change in consumer habits following the pandemic. The Middle East’s influencer marketing industry is growing exponentially. This investment in cutting-edge marketing technology and a trusted, full-service agency, with a global and local footprint, will strengthen the growth of our business and enhance our focus and nimbleness in making informed marketing decisions for our Danube and BinDawood brands, whilst providing a platform to Ykone for accelerated growth in the Middle East and beyond.”

Olivier Billon, Founder & CEO, Ykone, commented: “Ykone’s ability to provide an integrated full-service influencer marketing solution across strategy execution, production and data analyses, with strong expertise in the retail space, is unparalleled. We stand for constant innovation, allowing us to act as a creative powerhouse among the influencer marketing agency ecosystem. We provide a tailored solution to every client with a focus on quality content development. With a studio in Dubai and offices in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, we are well placed to respond to the needs of these rapidly growing markets. This partnership with BinDawood Holding marks a milestone in the incredible growth and success we have achieved to date and will propel our growth across the Gulf States in the retail, travel, tourism and entertainment sectors.”

FTR has the option to buy an additional 4.9 % of shares in Ykone with the balance be held by the Founder and key management, who will continue to remain heavily involved in driving its growth and profitability.

The Board of Directors of BinDawood Holding and the shareholders of Ykone have approved the transaction, which is expected to close shortly.

BinDawood Holding has a long legacy of embracing innovation and technology in the grocery retail space and is considered a pioneer in e-grocery shopping across Saudi Arabia. The Company was a first mover in the e-grocery market by launching the Danube Online and Danube App in 2017, which has become one of the leading ecommerce grocery platforms in the Kingdom. It then launched the BinDawood App in 2019, to further cater to the unmet online shopping needs in the Kingdom by providing users a smooth, reliable and secure service.

Further information about the transaction is available on the Investor Relations section of the BinDawood Holding website, www.bindawoodholding.com.

About BinDawood Holding Co.

BinDawood Holding is one of the leading grocery retail operators of hypermarkets and supermarkets in the KSA. The Company has a total of 78 stores of which 52 are hypermarkets and 26 are supermarkets, each located strategically across KSA, operating two complementary brands: BinDawood and Danube.

About the Future Technology Retail (FTR):

Future Technology Retail (Future Retail for Information Technology Company) is a wholly owned subsidiary of BinDawood Holding, one of the leading grocery retail operators in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Established in January 2022, with a mandate to capitalize on tech related investment opportunities in the retail sector. FTR announced the signing of a definitive agreement in March 2022 to acquire a majority stake in International Applications Trading Company (IATC), the company which developed and manages BinDawood Holding’s Danube and BinDawood ecommerce channels.

About Ykone:

Founded in 2008 in Paris, the Ykone agency is currently present in Europe, Asia and the US, and has become one of the best international influencer marketing agencies. For almost 15 years, Ykone has been a pioneer in its sector, designing ever-more ambitious campaigns for brands in luxury goods, beauty, fashion and travel sectors as well as for major consumer goods brands. The agency’s customers include L’Oreal, LVMH, Chopard and Nespresso.

About the TF1 group:

The TF1 group is a major player in the production, publication and distribution of content sectors.

Our raison d’être: to positively inspire society. Our operations are split between two divisions:

The Media division is home to: our five free-to-air channels (TF1, TMC, TFX, TF1 Séries Films, LCI); our four theme channels (Ushuaia TV, Histoire TV, TV Breizh, Série Club) our on-demand content platforms (MYTF1, TFOU MAX and Salto) our iconic digital brands (including Marmiton, aufeminin, Doctissimo and Les Numériques) and the TF1 PUB advertising airtime sales house. We also operate in music production and live shows with Muzeek One. The Production division, with Newen Studios, is home to 40 creative companies and labels in France and abroad. The division creates and distributes programmes across all genres and for all media industry players, from public service and private-sector broadcasters to online platforms.

The TF1 group has operations in 20 countries and employed 3,380 people as of 31 December 2021. In 2021, the TF1 group generated revenue of €2,427 million (Euronext Paris, compartment A: ISIN FR0000054900).