Eurosport Arabia partners with Mediaquest Corp. to promote and market its digital advertising portfolio

Eurosport Arabia partners with Mediaquest Corp. to promote and market its digital advertising portfolio

Mediaquest Corp. will act as the exclusive media representative across the Middle-East and North Africa for arabia.eurosport.com and its associated mobile services.

March 22, 2010 4:14 by Ben Flanagan

Dubai, March 23, 2010 – Eurosport Arabia, the new web and mobile sports portal developed in partnership between du and Eurosport, has partnered with Mediaquest Corp., the prominent publishing and media representative in the Arab world, to promote and market its interactive digital advertising offering across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Launched last December 2009 in partnership with a number of brands including Visa, Nike and Etihad, Eurosport Arabia the on-line sports portal, has already established itself as a reliable news source amongst sports fans across the MENA. Less than 100 days after its launch, Eurosport has attracted over 2 million unique visitors from across the region according to ComScore market research.

“We are delighted with the enthusiasm that Eurosport Arabia generates in the Arab on-line community,” says Mr. Osman Sultan, CEO of du. “Our partnership with Eurosport is a real success and a promising first step in building Digital Arabia.”

To ensure the marketing and sales of its first pan-Arab digital media venture, du chose Mediaquest Corp. after a thorough selection process that involved a number of media representative companies.

“With its pan-Arab presence and offices throughout North Africa and the Middle-East, Mediaquest Corp. is the ideal partner for Eurosport Arabia,” explains Mr. Raghu Venkataraman, Chief Strategy and Investment Officer for du. “The extent of their sales network, combined with the digital advertising expertise we have developed in-house, should make a winning combination to help brands develop their presence across both on-line and mobile media.”

Founded in 1987 and backed by Abraaj Capital, Mediaquest Corp. was the first media group to identify the Middle-East and North Africa as a unified market.

Mr. Alexandre Hawari, co-CEO of Mediaquest Corp. comments:

“Our print and on-line presence across the Middle-East and North Africa offers us a unique take on the reality of the pan-Arab market. Combined with the mobile and on-line expertise of du and the comprehensive editorial offering from Eurosport, we bring a unique value proposition to brands that wish to build their presence in the Arab world.”

About Eurosport Arabia

Eurosport Arabia (arabia.eurosport.com) is the new web and mobile sports portal developed in partnership between du, the integrated telecom service provider in the United Arab Emirates, and Eurosport, the leading sports entertainment group in Europe. The service provides Arab and French reading sports fans with live and in-depth coverage of the local, regional and international sports scene. Written by Arab for Arabs, Eurosport Arabia is available on-line at arabia.eurosport.com, and will soon be available across a number of mobile platforms.

About Mediaquest Corp.

Mediaquest Corp. publishes in three languages with operations on three continents. With more than 150 employees and 25 consumer and trade titles covering business, marketing, communications, women’s interests, lifestyle and entertainment, Mediaquest Corp. is positioned to become a leading media company in the Middle East and North Africa.

In June 2008 Mediaquest Corp partnered with Abraaj Capital, the single largest private equity group in the region, whose management assets have an estimated value of 8 billion dollars. This partnership will help support the organic growth of Mediaquest Corp.’s existing product lines in the print and online segments. The investment will also enable Mediaquest Corp. to expand through the acquisition of print and online titles that can benefit from Abraaj’s pre-existing support infrastructure.