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UAE payments company NEOPAY has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 65% controlling stake in noon payments, giving it a route into Saudi Arabia and Egypt while expanding its online payments business.
Financial terms haven’t been disclosed, and completion remains subject to regulatory and antitrust approvals. The agreement covers noon’s payments arm, which serves merchants across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
We at FWDstart approached noon about a potential sale of approximately 65% of noon payments on 18 August, following information from sources pointing to DgPays as the buyer. Monday’s announcement names NEOPAY, which is majority-owned by a consortium of DgPays and Arcapita.
The combination brings together two complementary parts of the payments business. NEOPAY provides the infrastructure that allows merchants to accept payments in stores and online, while noon payments brings its e-commerce gateway, integrations with marketplace sellers and relationships with online merchants.
The companies say they’ll use the combined business to offer merchants online and in-store acceptance, faster settlement, data tools and additional financial services.
“We have built a strong payments business in the UAE, and our ambition is now to take that capability across the region,” NEOPAY CEO Vibhor Mundhada said.
For noon, the transaction comes against the backdrop of its repeated stated ambition to go public. In September 2025, founder Mohamed Alabbar told the Financial Times the company was targeting a potential listing within two years and considering a dual listing in Saudi and the UAE. He put noon’s valuation at close to $10 billion and said it was approaching profitability, which he identified as a prerequisite for going public.
The group subsequently raised a reported $500 million from backers including Saudi’s Public Investment Fund and Alabbar.
Selling control of the payments arm will meaningfully change the mix of businesses noon controls as it works towards that ambition. Neither company has explicitly linked the transaction to IPO preparations, however, and the announcement doesn’t explain how any proceeds would be used.
The two businesses already have a working relationship. In October 2025, noon payments and NEOPAY launched an Aani instant-payments pilot for UAE merchants, allowing customers to approve payments through their banking or Aani app using a mobile number, email address or QR code.
NEOPAY’s own ownership changed relatively recently. Mashreq launched the business as a standalone payments subsidiary in 2022, before agreeing in September 2024 to sell a majority stake to investment firm Arcapita and financial infrastructure provider DgPays.
That transaction implied an enterprise value of approximately $385 million for NEOPAY. Mashreq announced its completion in January 2025, retaining a significant minority holding. Expanding into new markets was an explicit part of the new owners’ plan.
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