Japan’s Monstarlab to acquire Dubai human capital advisory firm ecap

The deal will help Tokyo digital consultancy to expand its operations in the region

Employees at Monstarlab’s office in Dubai. Its clients include Mashreq Bank, Careem, Kerzner International, Shake Shack and SoftBank. Photo: Monstarlab

Japan’s Monstarlab has signed an agreement to acquire ecap, an executive search and human capital advisory firm in Dubai, as it looks to expand its business globally.

Monstarlab is a Tokyo-based digital consultancy and software development company that helps organisations to scale up their businesses through digital solutions. The two companies did not disclose the total value of the deal.

“Monstarlab will strategically scale ecap by leveraging our combined global networks across our 17 key markets, giving our clients the tools and access to world-class talent from all geographies,” Hiroki Inagawa, Monstarlab’s group chief executive, said.

“We look forward to expanding further in the region and global markets through this acquisition and we are committed to further investment.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace of digital transformation throughout the region, driving demand for new technologies such as contactless services, cloud solutions and collaboration applications.

The overall information technology spend across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa is expected to grow 2.8 per cent to $77.5 billion this year, according to International Data Corporation. It contracted 4.9 per cent on an annualised basis last year.

Monstarlab, which was earlier known as Nodes, rebranded in February. It has 25 global offices and employs 1,200 people.

Founded in 2006, the company has been active in the Middle East and North Africa for more than two years. Its clients include Mashreq Bank, Careem, Kerzner International, Shake Shack and SoftBank.

Earlier this year, the company said it would invest $10 million in Mena over the next five years as it seeks to build technology capabilities in the region.

“The acquisition has come early in the journey of ecap,” Chris Abreu, founding partner at ecap, said. “Given the aggressive growth of Monstarlab and the passion from the leadership team to grow the ecap offering across their core markets, we had an immediate alignment in strategy, values and aspirations, which made it a very easy decision for ecap.”