From left, James Bicknell, CEO, Multiply Media Group; Ahmed Emam, Chief Revenue Officer, Multiply Media Group; Jawad Hassan, Head of Media and Communications Vertical at Multiply Group; Samia Bouazza, Group CEO and Managing Director of Multiply Group; Kaan Gunay, Co-Founder and CEO of Firefly; Abu Dhabi-based investment holding company Multiply Group has officially united three out-of-home (OOH) companies within its portfolio, including BackLite Media, Viola Media and Media 247 under a UAE-headquartered media entity called Multiply Media Group (MMG).
Multiple Media Group (MMG) was officially launched at the World Out of Home Organization (WOO) Annual Congress in Mexico City. To mark the launch, Multiply Group lit up screens across cities around the world through a global takeover of DOOH media.
The scale of the newly formed MMG now includes 3,000 advertising units across the UAE, including more than 75 premium assets on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road, which are backed by long-term partnership agreements with Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) under Mada Media in Dubai as well as the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) in Abu Dhabi.
Commenting on the launch of the new YAE media powerhouse, Samia Bouazza, GCEO and Managing Director of Multiply Group, said, “The launch of Multiply Media Group represents the most significant media consolidations in the UAE. By bringing together market-leading media assets under a single AI and tech-driven group, we are reinforcing our commitment to long-term value creation and shareholder returns. MMG lays a strong foundation for our global ambitions and forward-looking investment strategy.”
The move also reflects the global expansion of Multiply Group, the $7.2bn billion holding company, which is part of Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company (IHC), which has a market cap of more than $240bn.
The newly consolidated group aims to serve as a launchpad to capture regional and international opportunities arising in the media sector through MMG portfolio businesses.
MMG intends to drive performance and innovation across the OOH media sector, reshaping the UAE’s media landscape through scale, AI, and strategic partnerships.
To achieve its mission, MMG will invest in high-potential media assets, catalyse growth with innovation and create synergies across its portfolio through strategic investments.
Jawad Hassan, Head of the Media and Communications Vertical at Multiply Group, said, “For several years, Multiply Group’s ambitious growth strategy for the media sector has taken us from an integrated portfolio of three industry leaders to a media powerhouse with vast potential to redefine the entire regional media landscape in ways that will bring immediate impact and long-term value for clients.”
Hassan added, “Through MMG, we stand ready to embrace the emerging trends in our industry, particularly the transformative role of AI, and we will continually look to invest in technologies that enable us to create dynamic and innovative campaigns.”
The launch of MMG follows a recent strategic agreement between Multiply Group’s media vertical and Arabian Contracting Services Company (Al Arabia) to create a joint venture (JV) to invest in the global out-of-home (OOH) advertising sector.
Multiply Group, also recently announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Media Company (SMC) – with these two strategic moves underscoring the global expansion potential of Multiply’s portfolio brands.
James Bicknell, CEO of Multiply Media Group, said, “Multiply Media Group launches as a transformative force in out of home media — a powerhouse that unites some of the region’s most strategic media assets under one bold vision. With MMG, we are not simply scaling up — we are scaling intelligently.”
Bicknell added, “Our mandate is clear: deliver context at scale, and reach audiences where it truly matters, when it matters most. MMG is engineered to be agile, data-led, and deeply integrated, enabling our clients to engage audiences with greater relevance, responsiveness, and resonance than ever before. This is more than media — it’s momentum.”
Multiply Group’s other media holdings include Yieldmo, a contextual mobile ads platform, and Firefly, North America’s leading digital Taxi-Top company. The group completed the acquisition of Viola Communications, a marketing and communications firm, in 2021.
