Maktoob
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Maktoob Inc. | |
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| Type | Private |
| Founded | Amman, Jordan (2000) |
| Headquarters | Amman, Jordan |
| Key people | Samih Toukan, CEO Hussam Khoury COO |
| Industry | Internet services |
| Products | (See complete products listing.) |
| Employees | 221 (2007) |
| Website | www.maktoob.com |
Maktoob Inc. (Arabic: مكتوب) is an Arab Internet services company, based in Amman, Jordan known for being the first Arabic/English email service provider. "Maktoob" in Arabic means "letter", "written", or "Destiny".
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[edit] 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 it was very buggy 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 because of its buying of many Arabic websites has led the company to create several channels for Arab users, and it has introduced many new sites and services not found previously in Arabic format. However, it was totally copied from other websites like Yahoo, though the content of these sponsored channels is patchy at best. Over the years, it has also acquired a number of sites in the region that showed potential for growth.
[edit] 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. [1]. In December 2007, Abraaj sold it's share to Tiger Global Management with an Internal rate of return of 75% [2].
[edit] Maktoob-owned sites and services
- As7ab Maktoob: The first Arabic Social Networking service as7ab.maktoob.com
- Maktoob News:Arabic News Service news.maktoob.com
- Maktoob TV Guide:Arabic TV Guide Service tvguide.maktoob.com
- Maktoob Chat:Arabic and English Chat Service chat.maktoob.com
- Maktoob SeenJeem (Answers):Arabic Answers Service seenjeem.maktoob.com
- Maktoob Blog: Arabic Blog Service www.maktoobblog.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.com: Marriage portal www.bentelhalal.com
- Araby.com: Arabic Search Engine www.araby.com
- Maktoob Travel: Arabic Community Travel Portal travel.maktoob.com
