Say hello to the largest entertainment broadcasting company in the Middle East: Abu Dhabi-based Anghami and Dubai’s OSN+ signed an agreement to merge the two companies, according to a joint press release.The transaction is expected to close in 1Q 2024, pending regulatory approvals.

The details: OSN+ parent company OSN Group will inject USD 50 mn of liquidity into Anghami as part of the agreement, becoming a majority shareholder. OSN Group is investing in the company’s stock at USD 3.65 per share, 3.9x its average price for the past month. The new entity is expected to reel in USD 100 mn in revenues, bringing together over 120 mn registered users and 2.5 mn paid subscriptions.

OSN+’s investment is expected to help prevent Anghami from being delisted from the Nasdaq, Bloomberg quotes Anghami co-founder Elie Habib as saying. Anghami had received a warning from Nasdaq last month that it was at risk of being delisted, after its stock price fell below USD 1 apiece for more than 30 business days, the company said in an SEC filing. Anghami went public on the exchange in February 2022 through a SPAC merger with Vistas Media Acquisition Company.

What they said: The combination of the two home-grown brands “will leverage Anghami’s strong tech stack and rich music catalog coupled with OSN+’s library of premium video content to deliver a unique digital streaming experience with AI-driven hyper personalization that prioritizes recommendations based on user preference,” the press release reads.

Fending off competitors: The Emirates-based companies are two of the largest of their scale in the region, which OSN CEO Joe Kawkabani says is “a big reason for doing the [agreement],” according to Bloomberg. Merging forces will help strategically guard OSN+ and Anghami from international rivals Disney+ and Netflix, in addition to local competitors like Abu Dhabi-based Starzplay.

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