Maktoob
Encyclopedia
Maktoob Inc. is an Arab Internet services company, founded in Amman
, Jordan
known for being the first Arabic/English email
service provider. "Maktoob" in Arabic
means "letter", "written", or "Destiny". Maktoob today has more than 280 employees with offices in Amman, Dubai
, Cairo
, Riyadh
, and Kuwait
. On Aug 25, 2009, Yahoo!
Inc. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Maktoob.com, thus turning Maktoob into Yahoo!'s official arm in the MENA
region.
which was done in Java
, and using Java applet
s that had better Arabic support.
The initial flourish of Maktoob and its large user base led the company to create several services and content channels for Arab users, many of which were not found previously in Arabic format. Chatting, Greeting Cards, and simple content channels were upon the first to be developed internally. Since then, Maktoob diversified its services through both acquisitions and internal development to have close to 40 different channels and services.
The success of the Maktoob portal drove the company to start new online businesses. cashU
was founded to address the issue of electronic payments in the region, Souq.com as an auctions and marketplace; www.tahadi.com was founded to provide the best MMO/MMORPG games for the Middle East internet users, Araby.com an Arabic Search engine; Maktoob Research an online Research service and www.Sukar.com the first and biggest online private shopping club in the Middle East.
purchased 40% of the company shares in a USD 5.2 million buyout deal. The rationale for such an acquisition (according to Abraaj's website) is that Maktoob has a large user base (claimed to be more than 4 million) and, according to marketing literature, "a dominant online payment option cashU
and a strong brand name. It has established the first Arab online auction site souq.com which will benefit from leveraging the large community network." So far, Maktoob has not revealed any net revenue figures, although claiming to make a profit for the past few years. In December 2007, Abraaj sold its share to Tiger Global Management with an Internal rate of return
of 75%.
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
known for being the first Arabic/English email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
service provider. "Maktoob" in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
means "letter", "written", or "Destiny". Maktoob today has more than 280 employees with offices in Amman, Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Riyadh
Riyadh
Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
, and Kuwait
Kuwait City
-Suburbs:Although the districts below are not usually recognized as suburbs, the following is a list of a few areas surrounding Kuwait city:Al-Salam ""السلام"" -Economy:...
. On Aug 25, 2009, Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
Inc. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Maktoob.com, thus turning Maktoob into Yahoo!'s official arm in the MENA
MENA
The term MENA, for "Middle East and North Africa", is an acronym often used in academic, military planning and business writing.The term covers an extensive region, extending from Morocco to Iran, including the majority of both the Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries...
region.
History
Maktoob was founded in 1998 by Samih Toukan and Hussam Khoury who were able to introduce a free email service with Arabic support for emails when no other free email service had such support. They also helped users who did not have Arabic Keyboards or browsers that support Arabic to send and receive emails by using a virtual keyboardComputer keyboard
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
which was done in Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
, and using Java applet
Java applet
A Java applet is an applet delivered to users in the form of Java bytecode. Java applets can run in a Web browser using a Java Virtual Machine , or in Sun's AppletViewer, a stand-alone tool for testing applets...
s that had better Arabic support.
The initial flourish of Maktoob and its large user base led the company to create several services and content channels for Arab users, many of which were not found previously in Arabic format. Chatting, Greeting Cards, and simple content channels were upon the first to be developed internally. Since then, Maktoob diversified its services through both acquisitions and internal development to have close to 40 different channels and services.
The success of the Maktoob portal drove the company to start new online businesses. cashU
CashU Inc
cashU is a prepaid online and mobile payment method available in the Middle East and North Africa, a region with a large and young population with very limited access to credit cards...
was founded to address the issue of electronic payments in the region, Souq.com as an auctions and marketplace; www.tahadi.com was founded to provide the best MMO/MMORPG games for the Middle East internet users, Araby.com an Arabic Search engine; Maktoob Research an online Research service and www.Sukar.com the first and biggest online private shopping club in the Middle East.
Abraaj Capital acquisition
In June 2005, the UAE-based private equity house Abraaj CapitalAbraaj Capital
Abraaj Capital is among the world's 50-biggest private equity groups, and invests in the growing Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region, a region also known as MENASA. Abraaj manages about $6.6 billion of funds and stakes in about two dozen companies, including some of the best known in...
purchased 40% of the company shares in a USD 5.2 million buyout deal. The rationale for such an acquisition (according to Abraaj's website) is that Maktoob has a large user base (claimed to be more than 4 million) and, according to marketing literature, "a dominant online payment option cashU
CashU Inc
cashU is a prepaid online and mobile payment method available in the Middle East and North Africa, a region with a large and young population with very limited access to credit cards...
and a strong brand name. It has established the first Arab online auction site souq.com which will benefit from leveraging the large community network." So far, Maktoob has not revealed any net revenue figures, although claiming to make a profit for the past few years. In December 2007, Abraaj sold its share to Tiger Global Management with an Internal rate of return
Internal rate of return
The internal rate of return is a rate of return used in capital budgeting to measure and compare the profitability of investments. It is also called the discounted cash flow rate of return or the rate of return . In the context of savings and loans the IRR is also called the effective interest rate...
of 75%.
Maktoob-owned sites and services
- Yahoo! Maktoob Blog: Arabic Blog Service
- Yahoo! Maktoob As7ab Maktoob: The first Arabic Social Networking service
- Yahoo! Maktoob News:News Service
- Yahoo! Maktoob Research: the Arab world's largest online marketing research business
- Yahoo! Maktoob Bentelhalal: Marriage portal
- Yahoo! Maktoob Travel: Arabic Community Travel Portal
- Yahoo! Maktoob Games: Casual Gaming with Arabic support