A year before Microsoft acquired professional networking platform LinkedIn, the Jeff Weiner-led company had earlier ignited a spark that reportedly saw a 19 percent growth year over year (YOY) to more than 433 million members worldwide.
LinkedIn had preceded the $26.6B acquisition deal of Microsoft by first acquiring Lynda.com, an online learning company, for $1.5 billion in April of 2015.
When Microsoft came courting, there was enough weight (convincing metrics) to throw on the negotiation table.
Saudi Arabia-based logistics company, GLT Express, acquired 2-year old Egyptian Gallop Express for an undisclosed amount.
Perhaps, for obvious expansion reasons as both companies play in the last mile fulfilment and logistics space.
Led by founder and CEO Feras Alzamil, the GLT Express team, in a statement, confirmed that the acquisition was part of its plans to expand its operations outside existing markets that include UAE, Uzbekistan, and Sudan.
Large firms acquiring potential market drivers in new territories is a commonplace characteristics of growth-minded companies seeking to increase bottom line.
After America’s payment processing company, Stripe, acquired Nigeria’s Paystack in October 2020 for $200M+ to expand into the African continent, the world saw how the Ezra-Olubi-and-Shola-Akinlade co-founded company expanded to South Africa barely seven months after the acquisition.
Venture analysts credited Stripe for playing a major role in the development, citing how the American team must have been working in the background.
Returning to Egypt, there is a high chance that another expansion stunt could be around the corner either for Gallop Express or GLT Express -depending on the identity they choose to continue doing business.
Furthermore, Feras Alzamil’s finance degree from the UCL College of Business will be serving a great advantage for the Egyptian team. Also, the insights garnered throughout the years of leading the GLT Express, and his social mobility will play a key role in shaping the venture, going forward.
These factors, and more, are expected to push Gallop’s market value higher.
Applying this metrics, every other experts from GLT Express that will be inherited and employed to further scale Gallop will be adding to the business’ bottom line. Hence, we can expect a 25% growth before the close of Q2.
At the moment, Gallop, unlike GLT Express, is yet to build an app for its last mile delivery service. For instance, through the GLT Express’ app, users (clients/merchants) can push all their orders directly from its Shopify stores admin panel to the GLT Express system, going on to access a Live order status update on their stores, which help customers to track order anytime.
To picture the growth that this can translate into when such tech deployment investment is eventually considered, more users can be served within shorter time with about 35% accelerated speed. In the end, we can only expect a spiral revenue growth for Gallop as a business venture.
A recent report published by EcommerceDB, in partnership with Statista, places Egypt as the 39th largest market for eCommerce with a revenue of US$5 billion in 2021, placing it ahead of Philippines and behind Iran.
Experts noted that a 44% increase in the eCommerce market of Egypt contributed to the worldwide growth rate of 29% in 2021.
Hence, as revenues for eCommerce continue to increase, there are potentials for new markets to emerge for further developments in the logistics space where GLT Express and Gallop Express are playing.
With the new acquisition that could help Gallop Express leverage GLT Express’ talents, finance and advanced technology, Winch, EGY, Khawass, Logistica and other contenders in the region, may be in a tough battle.
Few questions to ask: Will Gallop Express dominate in no time? Will the company open in new markets like Paystack? Is this an ultimate overtaking market sweep of Egypt’s logistics sector by a Saudi force?
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