Maktoob
| File:Maktoob logo.png | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | Jordan Amman, Jordan (2000) |
| Headquarters | JordanAmman, Jordan |
| Key people | Samih Toukan, CEO Hussam Khoury COO Ahmed Nassef Maktoob.com General Manager |
| Industry | Internet services |
| Products | (See complete products listing.) |
| Employees | 268 (2008) |
| Website | www.maktoob.com |
Maktoob Inc. (Arabic: مكتوب) 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 have 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 [1]
History
== maktoob now from yahoo ==
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 keyboard which was done in Java, and using Java applets 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; and Maktoob Research an online Research service.
Abraaj Capital acquisition
In June 2005, the UAE-based private equity house Abraaj Capital 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. [2]. In December 2007, Abraaj sold its share to Tiger Global Management with an Internal rate of return of 75% [3].
Maktoob-owned sites and services
- Maktoob Blog: Arabic Blog Service www.maktoobblog.com
- As7ab Maktoob: The first Arabic Social Networking service as7ab.maktoob.com
- Maktoob News:Arabic News Service news.maktoob.com
- Maktoob Research: the Arab world's largest online marketing research business www.maktoob-research.com
- cashU: internet payment solution www.cashu.com
- Souq.com: online auction platform www.souq.com
- Maktoob Business: Marketing & Business portal business.maktoob.com
- Bentelhalal: Marriage portal www.bentelhalal.com
- Araby.com: Arabic Search Engine www.araby.com
- Maktoob Travel: Arabic Community Travel Portal travel.maktoob.com
- Maktoob Games: Casual Gaming with Arabic support games.maktoob.com
- Tahadi Games: MMO MMORPG Games with Arabic support www.tahadi.com
External links
If you like SEOmastering Site, you can support it by - BTC: bc1qppjcl3c2cyjazy6lepmrv3fh6ke9mxs7zpfky0 , TRC20 and more...
