Nigerian discount online shopping platform DealDey has been acquired by Ringier Africa Deals Group, a newly formed joint venture between Switzerland-based Ringier Africa and South Africa’s Silvertree Internet Holdings.
Launched in 2011 by former Konga chief executive officer (CEO) Sim Shagaya and Investment AB Kinnevik, the platform originally specialised in shopping deals and discounts.
In February last year, the website received a further US$5 million boost from Investment AB Kinnevik, with the startup announcing it planned to challenge Konga and Jumia to become “the strongest e-commerce site in Africa”. The startup went on to spin off its business promotion and listings section, PromoHub, into a separate entity; as well as launching LYF, a socially-driven business listings, reviews and transactional platform.
Ringier Africa Deals Group announced the acquisition of DealDey today, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition also includes PromoHub and LYF.
“The DealDey team is excited about joining forces with the newly-formed Ringier Africa Deals Group. It offers great opportunities as DealDey brings a wealth of experience in technology, merchant management and consumer behaviour in Nigeria – and we will be leveraging the Ringier Africa portfolio in marketing, classifieds and media as well as Silvertree’s e-commerce expertise towards supporting the sustainable growth of the group,” said DealDey co-CEOs Kehinde Oriola and Etop Ikpe.
Oriola will continue as the CEO of DealDey, while Ikpe will be moving on to new ventures.
The newly formed joint venture between Ringier and Silvertree has been created by a carve out of the leading Kenyan online deals business Rupu out of Ringier Kenya, and of the leading Ghanaian online deals platform Tisu out of Ringer Ghana.
The partners said their mutual aim through the joint venture is to lead the online deals businesses – the two existing Ringier businesses, and today’s new acquisitions – to continued success based on a long-term, joint plan.
The DealDey acquisition represents an expansion of Ringier Africa’s portfolio beyond publishing and digital marketing in Nigeria, while it marks Silvertree’s first e-commerce investment in the country.
“Ringier Africa has identified e-commerce as a key area for growth and we are excited by the inclusion of DealDey in the Ringier Africa Deals Group. With the addition of e-commerce-experienced Silvertree as a partner and investor, we are on track to significantly increase our interest in the space, with particular focus on serving the important markets of Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya,” said Ringier Africa general manager Leonard Stiegeler.
The joint venture covering the existing Ringier entities as well as DealDey means Silvertree enters three new markets at once – Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.
“We are extremely excited to be entering three of Africa’s most exciting e-commerce markets, through our partnership with Ringier and joint investment into DealDey, Rupu and Tisu. Through this deal, we get to build on excellent existing platforms as we look to serve Africa’s emerging middle class,” said Silvertree co-managing director Paul Cook.
“With Ringier’s deep content expertise and African footprint, we look forward to further accelerating the growth of these exciting businesses. Our focus will be on rapid but sustainable growth, as Africa’s e-commerce industry starts to mature and consumers look for world-class offerings, excellent customer service and great deals.”
