Noon, the Mohamed Alabbar and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) e-commerce venture appoints Faraz Khalid as chief executive officer (CEO).
Khalid joins from Middle East online fashion retailer Namshi, which he co-founded and where he served as managing director. Noon’s previous CEO Fodhil Benturqui quit in May.
Emaar Malls purchased a 51% stake in Namshi also in May for $151 million from Global Fashion Group (GFG), a start-up set up by Rocket Internet.
The region’s e-commerce market is forecast to grow to $20 billion by 2020, according to an A.T. Kearney report published in 2016.
In March, Amazon.com bought Middle Eastern online retailer Souq.com in a deal described by adviser Goldman Sachs as “the biggest-ever technology M&A transaction in the Arab world”.