Anghami makes Nasdaq debut

The news follows a recent closure of a merger between Anghami and Vistas Media Acquisition Company (VMAC), whose stockholders approved the merger at a special meeting on 19 January.

Anghami and VMAC set the deal in motion with a merger agreement in March 2021, which valued Anghami at $220m. Anghami says it is the first Arab tech company to be listed on Nasdaq and the first Arab company to list on the stock exchange in more than 25 years. The company was founded in 2012 and claims to be the biggest music streaming platform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It is headquartered in Abu Dhabi with offices in Beirut, Dubai, Cairo and Riyadh.

Anghami co-founders Elie Habib and Eddy Maroun rang the New York bourse’s opening bell last Thursday to celebrate the new stock listing under the ticker ‘ANGH’ on the Nasdaq Global Market and as ‘ANGHW’ on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The ANGH stock price increased by over 70% pre-market on Monday after surging over 80% during intraday trading in its market debut on Friday. At the time of publishing, its stock price was about $19 per share.

“Today is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our company, employees and partners at Vistas Media Acquisition Company. As a public company, we will further develop our ecosystem of creators, expand our content and add millions of users in MENA and globally,” Maroun said on Thursday.

Habib said: “The business combination is the culmination of a long journey and we are pleased to be joining Nasdaq, which will provide the foundation for us to hire the best engineers, further innovate and offer our users the best experience and new products.”

Anghami boasts about 70 million registered users and more than 57 million Arabic and international songs generating approximately 10 billion streams a year. The music streaming app has secured strategic partnerships with key players in the entertainment industry, including a sponsorship deal with the Middle Eastern version of The Voice and a recent partnership with Wassim ‘Sal’ Slaiby, the Lebanese-Canadian music exec known for managing The Weeknd and French Montana.