China’s Global Home Shopping acquires 51% stake in Dubai’s citrussTV

Dubai, 20 September 2017: One of China’s largest full-media retail platforms, Global Home Shopping Co, Ltd. (GHS) today announced it has signed a strategic agreement to acquire a 51 percent stake in Citruss TV FZ LLC (citrussTV), the Arab world’s first dedicated home shopping TV channel and the premier full-media retail destination in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The agreement was announced today during a press conference held at Sofitel the Palm Resort & Spa, Dubai, by Jason Kong - President of GHS, Walid Zein - Managing Partner of Valoris Capital, the financial investor behind citrussTV; and Nicolas Bruylants – co-founder of citrussTV.

Jason Kong - President of GHS

Walid Zein - Managing Partner of Valoris Capital

Nicolas Bruylants – co-founder of citrussTV

“citrussTV has been the pioneer of the TV home shopping industry in the Middle East and North Africa, offering the ultimate shopping experience in products and services to customers from the comfort of their home. The investment by GHS is the first Chinese investment in the TV home shopping sector in this region and reflects the enormous growth potential for the industry.” said Sammi Chen, the new CEO of citrussTV.

Sammi Chen, the new CEO of citrussTV

“The investment in citrussTV is in line with our international business expansion plan. The GHS and citrussTV families share the same corporate vision, values and business principles, giving prominence to high-quality and an extensive range of products and services to customers.” said Jason Kong, President of GHS.

“We are thrilled to welcome GHS as a strategic partner in citrussTV. I feel that after 12 years of hard work building our company, now is the time for us to expand our capabilities by leveraging access to GHS’ know-how, technology and expertise. The whole company is excited at the new prospects that this partnership opens to us.” said Nicolas Bruylants, co-founder of citrussTV.

“Since we started investing in citrussTV in 2014, we have been closely working with the management team to build the company into the premier full-media retail destination across the 16 countries in the MENA region. We are now looking forward to a new phase of growth together with GHS and are pleased to have concluded a strategic partnership with a company that shares our ambition, values and entrepreneurial spirt.” said Walid Zein, Managing Partner of Valoris Capital, the financial investor behind citrussTV.

GHS is a member of China Home Shopping Alliance and China Electronic Chamber of Commerce and has established a unique business ecosystem that thrives on long-term strategic cooperation with thousands of outstanding global brands.

Dubai-based citrussTV reaches over 300 million consumers across the MENA region and serves more than 400,000 customers. It is broadcast 24/7 via satellite (NileSat/ArabSat) and cable networks (du/Etisalat/OSN/Mobily/STC) and offers a safe and secure online shopping service, delivering to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and many other countries in the MENA region.

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ABOUT GHS

Headquartered in Beijing, Global Home Shopping (GHS) is one of the leading full-media retail platforms in China. While TV shopping and e-commerce are the core of the retail business, it also carries out wholesale trade, manufacturing, cultural media and other businesses through its various subsidiaries. Through its nationwide TV shopping channels, state-of-the-art online and mobile shopping platforms, GHS provides high-quality products that are carefully selected from all over the world and creates an ideal life experience for hundreds of millions of families in China. GHS has more than 1,300 employees and has achieved more than $320 million in sales in 2016.

GHS is an affiliate of China Radio International, and is a member of China Home Shopping Alliance and of the China Electronic Chamber of Commerce.

ABOUT citrussTV

citrussTV was founded in 2005 and is the Arab world’s first dedicated home shopping TV channel and the premier full-media retail destination in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). As the true home of omni-channel retailing, citrussTV offers a wide range of quality products including home & kitchen, beauty, fashion and jewelry. It serves more than 400,000 customers and reaches more than 300 million consumers across the MENA region. With a strong focus on technology, citrussTV has created multi-platform channels covering tvCommerce, eCommerce, mCommerce and social media in a commitment to offer seamless shopping across the region. Based in Dubai, UAE, citrussTV is broadcast 24/7 via satellite (NileSat/ArabSat) and other cable networks (du/Etisalat/OSN/Mobily /STC).