logistics founded 1982 ; 34 years ago 1982 headquarters dubai united arab emirates key people fadi ghandour founder hussein hachem ceo products international express domestic express freight forwarding logistics shop & ship catalog services revenue 993.62 million 2014 1 net income 94.46 million 2014 1 website www.aramex.com aramex arabic ar maks is an international express mail delivery and logistics services company based in dubai united arab emirates uae . 2 the company was founded by jordanian fadi ghandour and bill kingson in 1982 . 2 3 4 it is the first arab based company to be listed on the nasdaq stock exchange . 2 5 6 aramex is listed on the dubai financial market . 6 7 hussein hachem serves as the company s ceo . 8 aramex has approximately 13 800 employees in 54 countries and a network consisting of 40 independent express companies . 6 thomas friedman profiled the company in his book the world is flat . 2 9 contents 1 history 1.1 expansion 2 sustainability 3 references history edit fadi ghandour co founded arab american express shortly after receiving his ba in political science from george washington university with his business partner bill kingson in 1982 . 2 3 5 6 kingson a friend of ghandour s father and owner of a small courier company in the new york tri state area discussed the business with fadi ghandour after he had expressed interest in the business . 2 5 after their discussion kingson proposed a partnership to establish a courier business in the middle east with ghandour . 2 the company began operations in amman jordan . 2 3 5 arab american express aimed to become the first courier company in the middle east . 2 at the time there were no international courier companies based in the region because of logistical and bureaucratic challenges caused by civil wars and complex political relationships . 2 3 5 the company s first international delivery was a document for the housing bank for trade and finance based in jordan to new york city . 2 within two years the company s name was shortened to aramex . 3 in 1984 the company s operations were less than 1 million in revenue . 3 aramex offered airborne express 50 % ownership of the company for 100 000 that year . 2 3 airborne express declined the offer because it did not have the resources to invest in a small market such as the middle east . 3 the partnership made aramex responsible for airborne s business in the region . 3 aramex moved its headquarters to dubai united arab emirates in 1985 . 2 aramex gained federal express as a client in 1987 . 2 3 in the first year of partnership 30 % of aramex s revenue came from packages originating from the federal express network . 2 airborne express acquired 9 % of aramex for 2 million . 2 aramex was listed on the nasdaq stock exchange in january 1997 . 5 7 the company became the first arab based company to trade its shares on an american stock exchange . 2 5 aramex s valuation was 24 million and the ipo raised 7 million . 2 the company accrued 66 million in revenue and 31 million in gross profit that year . 2 the company expanded its operations to 120 locations in 33 countries primarily emerging markets in the middle east and southeast asia by 2001 . 2 the company s strategy was to enter high growth markets characterized by high populations and liberalizing economies . 2 during summer 2001 abraaj capital the first private equity firm in the middle east proposed aramex a leveraged buyout offer that would take the company off of the nasdaq stock exchange . 2 6 7 the deal was accepted and abraaj capital acquired the majority of aramex for 65 million in february 2002 . 2 the deal allowed kingson and airborne to exit while ghandour retained 25 % of the company and management control . 2 abraaj acquired 75 % of aramex and made 6 % of its shares available to company employees in the form of stock . 2 between 2002 and 2003 aramex s net income rose from 4 million to 10 million . 2 in 2003 dhl acquired airborne express aramex s main united states partner . this resulted in airborne express exiting the airborne alliance . in the same year aramex took over the alliance and co founded the global distribution alliance gda a global alliance of 40 express companies with combined revenues of 7.5 billion . aramex is chairing the alliance which uses a shipment management system developed by the company . 10 11 12 aramex went public on the dubai financial market in february 2005 . 2 6 7 the ipo raised 270 million . 2 the company s revenue increased 23 % over 2004 and net income increased 56 % that year . 2 as part of its expansion plans aramex concluded a series of acquisitions including priority airfreight infofort freight professionals and twoway vanguard . 13 14 15 world renowned writer and columnist thomas friedman used aramex in his book the world is flat as an example of companies that benefit from what he calls the flattening of the world . 2 6 9 16 the flattening of the world is the leveling of the economic field and the destruction of barriers to entry opening the door wide for an individual or a company anywhere in the world to collaborate or compete globally . 16 17 18 expansion edit in february 2011 aramex acquired oneworld courier and in time couriers two kenyan courier firms . 19 aramex acquired berco express a south african logistics firm in december 2011 . 20 paypal partnered with aramex in 2012 . 21 the partnership gave paypal credibility in the middle east while opening up new markets abroad for aramex . 21 aramex developed rede a solution aimed at enabling companies to begin selling their products online in early 2012 . 22 shopgo an e commerce solution released aramex suite in august 2013 . 23 the module enabled e commerce stores to automatically access several of aramex s services . 23 aramex launched aramex bio a medical courier service in march 2014 . 24 the service was launched in the middle east and north africa . 24 in june 2014 aramex acquired mail call couriers an australian courier service . 25 by end of 2016 australia post will own mailcall couriers 26 sustainability edit the company supported the ruwwad al tanmeya initiative in 2006 . the initiative aimed to involve the private sector in spurring community development through youth empowerment and investments in the community through education civic engagement and volunteering . 27 aramex has a twenty percent stake in ruwwand al tanmeya . 28 aramex became the first company in the region to release an annual sustainability report in 2006 . 6 9 the company joined the united nations global compact the world s largest global corporate citizenship initiative in 2007 . 9 references edit a b https www.aramex.com content uploads 100 55 48819 consolidated financial statements 31dec2014 en.pdf a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad aramex delivering the future pdf . william davidson institute . 06 05 2009 . retrieved 2014 08 24 . check date values in date help a b c d e f g h i j fadi ghandour march 2011 . how i did it the ceo of aramex on turning a failed sale into a huge opportunity . harvard business journal . retrieved 2014 08 24 . rory jones 01 08 2014 . ifc aramex founder to launch vc fund for mena tech startups . retrieved 2014 08 24 . check date values in date help a b c d e f g fadi ghandour founder of aramex . npr . 05 01 2014 . retrieved 2014 08 24 . check date values in date help a b c d e f g h rola tassabehji 2008 08 26 . ceo view fadi ghandour of aramex . retrieved 2014 08 24 . a b c d massoud a. derhally 2012 05 20 . aramex to spend 100m on acquisitions by 2013 says ceo . retrieved 2014 08 24 . daniel shane 02 04 2014 . dubai s aramex to be 1bn company this year says ceo . retrieved 2014 08 18 . check date values in date help a b c d innovation key to carve niche aramex . emirates 24 7 . 2008 09 22 . friedman thomas . the world is flat . abraaj capital . global distribution alliance . infofort . priority airfreight . freight professionals . a b friedman thomas 2005 . the world is flat . farrar straus & giroux . isbn 1598954814 . cceia.org . wikisummaries . ed attwood 2011 02 15 . aramex buys two kenyan firms eyes further deals in 2011 . retrieved 2014 08 24 . nina curley 2011 12 12 . aramex acquires south african logistics firm berco express why it matters to mena entrepreneurs . retrieved 2014 08 24 . a b naushad k. cherrayil 2012 09 14 . paypal launches mideast operations with aramex deal . retrieved 2014 08 24 . are you rede to break into e commerce . 04 05 2012 . retrieved 2014 08 24 . check date values in date help a b nancy curley 2013 08 18 . shopgo makes it easier for any e commerce company to manage logistics with aramex . retrieved 2014 08 24 . a b courier aramex targets middle east medical services with biocare . 2014 03 17 . retrieved 2014 08 24 . robert anderson 2014 06 15 . aramex acquires australia s mail call couriers . retrieved 2014 08 24 . https auspost.newsroom.com.au content home 02 home article australia post to form strategic alliance with global logistics leader 2 2 6102 balakrishnan melodena stephens ; michael ian ; birkelund gunn elisabeth ; moonesar immanuel azaad 2013 . east meets west . emerald group publishing . ibrahim barbara ; sherif dina h. from charity to social change trends in arab philanthropy . american univ in cairo press . 30338450413 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title aramex & oldid 735189870 categories companies established in 19821982 establishments in jordancompanies of jordanlogistics companiesammancompanies listed on the dubai financial marketcompanies based in dubaihidden categories cs1 errors datespages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction 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