Zain acquires strategic stake in FOO
Lebanon-based digital player to fast-track Zain’s services
BARCELONA/KUWAIT: Zain Group, a leading telecom innovator in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, announces a strategic investment in FOO, a successful Lebanon-based entity offering a full spectrum of innovative end-to-end mobility related services including digital strategic consultancy, user interface and experience (UI- UX) design, app and web development solutions, digital marketing and incubation of startups.
Zain’s partnership with FOO builds on the establishment of the Zain Digital Frontier and Innovation (ZDFI) business unit, which is charged with launching Zain into the digital space with the view to growing the company through innovative business streams that add to Zain’s customer service offerings. ZDFI focuses on the areas of innovation; digital services; corporate venturing; and smart cities.
The partnership was announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at a signing ceremony attended by Zain Group Chairman Asaad Al-Banwan, Zain Group CEO Scott Gegenheimer, FOO Managing Partners Elie Nasr and Ghady Rayess, and senior executives from both Zain and FOO.
Commenting on the strategic stake in FOO, Zain Group CEO, Scott Gegenheimer said, “FOO is one of Lebanon’s technology success stories and this strategic investment will fast-track and enhance Zain’s delivery of innovative digital services to customers and enterprises.”
Gegenheimer continued, “We believe in technology unlocking the potential of and transforming the way people live their lives and conduct their business. Given the coming together of the Internet of Things and the power of robust data applications, Zain plans to capitalize on its relationship with FOO.”
Elie Nasr, Managing Partner of FOO commented, “Our vision is to become the leader in digital innovation and become our client’s innovation partner. We believe the partnership with Zain will help us reach this goal. As a renowned mobile operator, Zain has proven itself to be a leading innovator in its own right, and we are sure there will be plenty of opportunities for us to leverage each other’s experience in the future.”
Zain is a leading telecommunications operator across the Middle East and Africa providing mobile voice and data services to over 45.6 million active customers as of 31 December, 2015. With a commercial presence in 8 countries, Zain operates in: Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and South Sudan. In Lebanon, the Group manages ‘touch’ on behalf of the government. In Morocco, Zain has a 15.5 percent stake in ‘INWI’, through a joint venture.