Reservoir Media’s MENA Partner, PopArabia, Acquires Regional Competitor Viral Wave

PopArabia, the music publisher and independent music company based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), has acquired Viral Wave, the label and distributor based in Cairo, Egypt. PopArabia is a partner to the global independent music company, Reservoir Media, and this acquisition will greatly strengthen its position in the Middle East and North Africa.

The details:

• Viral Wave’s employees will join PopArabia’s current team.

• The staff will be over 30 people, and spread across Egypt, Morocco, and the UAE.

• Rania Ibrahim of Viral Wave will become PopArabia General Manager for Egypt, overseeing the Cairo arm of the new venture.

• Ibrahim will report to Spek, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PopArabia and Executive Vice President of International & Emerging Markets at Reservoir.

• Viral Wave represents such artists as Ramy Sabry, Tamer Ashour, Ahmed Saad, Ramy Gamal, Tamer Hosny, Ruby, and Saber Rebai.

• PopArabia's catalog now includes close to 100,000 Arabic songs.

• Viral Wave is the first full-service distributor to join the PopArabia platform.

What they said:

• Spek: “This is a transformative day for PopArabia. What began as a belief in the untapped value of Arabic music has grown into a regional rights platform with deep roots and truly global reach. With the acquisition of Viral Wave, we are bringing together complementary strengths to better serve artists and rights holders as a dominant indie powerhouse. We’re across the region and embedded – with a much bigger platform now to operationally execute.”

• Reservoir Founder and Chief Executive Officer Golnar Khosrowshahi: “Acquiring Viral Wave marks a meaningful turning point in PopArabia and Reservoir’s emerging markets story. Our strategic approach to growth in the region will enter a new phase, with even more comprehensive operations. We will be establishing a physical presence in Egypt, the longstanding cultural hub of the region, and, after spending time with the Viral Wave team in Cairo, I am confident their expertise in distribution and label services is the perfect addition to our existing capabilities across MENA."