Topic: How To Invest

Q: What do you think of this new IPO Yalla based in the Middle East? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

A: Yalla Group Ltd., $23.87, symbol YALA on New York (ADRs outstanding: 119.2 million; Market cap: $3.7 billion; www.yallatech.ae), is a social media platform that provides voice chat rooms and online entertainment featuring popular board games. It hosts an average 16.4 million users each month. That platform is, in fact, the largest voice-centric social networking and entertainment platform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, the company’s flagship mobile application, Yalla, aims to bring traditional majlis to online users, offering them features such as voice chat rooms. (Majlis is an Arabic term meaning “council,” used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups. They can be administrative, social or religious gatherings in countries with a linguistic or cultural Islamic connection.) The company’s Yalla Ludo app resembles a family living room where family members and friends play board games, such as Ludo and Dominoes, that are highly popular in MENA countries. The built-in voice chat…