“Iran’s Amazon” agrees share swap with largest online-only supermarket

“Iran’s Amazon” agrees share swap with largest online-only supermarket
/ Amin.
By bne IntelliNews July 18, 2018

DigiKala, the business known as “Iran’s Amazon” and the country’s largest online retailer of electronic and clothing goods, has agreed a share swap to bring online-only supermarket Rocoland into its operation, according to a press release from the company released to digital news site nodud.com.

The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

DigiKala, run by the Mohammadi twin brothers, has doubled down on e-commerce in the country of 80mn in recent years, expanding its range of offers beyond its original digital line-up of goods to clothing, homewares and medical and bathroom devices.

In the press release, Digikala said: “DigiKala seeks to become a destination for all user needs, and covering the basic needs of users such as in food and consumer goods is thus one of the most important measures to achieve this goal.”

The company observed that the process of stocking fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) items is relatively complicated because of the required supply chain management.

Under the announced deal, Rocoland will remain independent, despite close alignment behind the scenes, and will continue to operate via its website.

The announcement also indicated that Rocoland intends to expand its range of FMCG goods to 10,000 items by the end of the current Persian year, which falls on March 20, 2019.

While discussing the move to grow the DigiKala and Rocoland brands, the Mohammadi brothers, believed by observers to be worth more than $100mn each due to their remaining DigiKala stakes, said they intended to offer some shares in the company on the Tehran Stock Exchange in coming months.

The recent collapse of the Iranian rial (IRR) in black market trading amid economic instabilities caused in part by the US targeting of Iran with heavy sanctions, as well as the government’s recent import ban on more than 1,300 goods deemed to be “luxury” in order to curb hard currency outflows, have caused market havoc, with several imports popular with middle-class Iranians now absent from the shelves.

Related Articles

Bank Melli Iran allowed to resume Iraq operations

Bank Melli Iran (BMI) has been given the go-ahead to resume its operations in Iraq by the Central Bank of Iraq, as reported by IBENA on February 9. This decision comes after a temporary suspension of ... more

Iran, Uzbekistan set to sign transport cooperation agreement soon

Iran and Uzbekistan plan to sign a comprehensive transport cooperation document in the near future, according to Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash, IRIB News reported on ... more

Iranian Judiciary says assets of jailed billionaire recovered from abroad

Billions of dollars in assets belonging to Iranian billionaire Babak Zanjani jailed for corruption, have been transferred to Iran from an unnamed third country, judiciary-linked Mizan News ... more

Dismiss