Paris, France – November 16th, 2021: Amethis, through its newly launched fund, Amethis MENA Fund II (AMF2), has completed its second transaction, acquiring a minority stake in Tarjama.
Founded in 2008 by Jordanian entrepreneur Nour Al Hassan, Tarjama is the leading language technology & services provider in the MENA region, meeting the language and localization needs of a wide roster of corporates across the region’s largest markets. The company has developed proprietary language technology products including a best-in-class Arabic-focused machine translation engine as well as Cleverso, its high-performing translation management system. With a growing presence in the MENA region, Tarjama which is woman-led enjoys gender parity and is a dynamic employer of youth across the region.
Amethis’ investment in Tarjama will support the company in realizing its AI technology roadmap and in executing an ambitious organic and inorganic growth strategy across the region’s main markets.
Nour Al Hassan, Tarjama Founder & CEO, stated: “This investment by Amethis creates an exceptional opportunity for us to build up our technological capabilities and securely position Tarjama as the leader in language AI across the region. We’re eager for this next phase of growth where we’ll significantly develop our current product portfolio, create new customer-focused products, and expand our presence to global markets.”
Toufic Khoueiry who led the transaction for Amethis commented: “Our investment in Tarjama exemplifies our strategy of backing exceptional and growth-focused entrepreneurs operating successfully in fast-growing sectors. We are excited to support Nour Al Hassan and the Tarjama team as the company embarks on its next chapter.”
Laurent Demey, Amethis Founding Partner, added: “By investing in Tarjama, Amethis is proud to be backing not only a market leader in the attractive MENA localization market but also a high-growth woman-led SME that has already achieved gender parity. “
Dechert LLP acted as legal advisor to Nour Al Hassan & Tarjama while Hourani & Partners acted as legal advisor to Amethis. PwC and Slator were also retained by Amethis for financial, tax, and commercial due diligence.
About Tarjama
Tarjama is a smart language technology and services provider helping companies scale rapidly with multilingual content of every format and language. Founded in 2008 by Nour Al Hassan, Tarjama has quickly grown to dominate the localization market in the MENA region through its proprietary line-up of innovative language solutions custom-built for the Arabic language.
With a mission to help companies realize their potential for global growth, Tarjama is committed to delivering language solutions that meet international standards of quality, speed, and cost-efficiency. It offers an end-to-end range of AI-powered language services including translation, localization, interpretation, content creation, transcription, subtitling, and strategic advisory. To find out more about Tarjama, visit www.tarjama.com.
About Amethis
Founded by Luc Rigouzzo and Laurent Demey in partnership with the Edmond de Rothschild Group, Amethis is an investment fund manager focused on the African continent and the MENA region, with assets under management exceeding USD 1 billion and close to 30 investments completed to date.
Amethis brings growth capital to promising mid-cap champions in a diversity of sectors offering growth support through its international network spanning Europe and Africa. With five offices in Paris, Abidjan, Casablanca, Nairobi, and Luxembourg, the Amethis team comprises 40 experienced professionals with strong regional and sectoral expertise.
Through Amethis MENA Fund II, which has completed its first closing at USD 101 million in July 2020, Amethis will target majority and minority investments in fast-growing SMEs in Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, and Jordan. www.amethis.com
About Edmond de Rothschild
As a conviction-driven investment house founded upon the belief that wealth should be used to build the world of tomorrow, Edmond de Rothschild specializes in Private Banking and Asset Management and serves an international clientele of families, entrepreneurs, and institutional investors. The group is also active in corporate finance, private equity, real estate, and fund services. With a resolutely family-run nature, Edmond de Rothschild has the independence necessary to propose bold strategies and long-term investments, rooted in the real economy. Created in 1953, the Group now has CHF 173 billion (€ 160 billion) in assets under management, 2,600 employees, and 32 locations worldwide. www.edmond-de-rothschild.com
