The overseas operations of Dubizzle.com, leading classified website of UAE, are taken over by OLX – one of the world’s top classified websites.

The acquisition process, strategically called rebranding, has been applied to ten Dubizzle properties including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Algeria, Tunis and Egypt.

According to Arabian Business, Abdallah Touqan, senior PR and communications lead at dubizzle said: “This decision was made after a serious consideration for what is best for the business. The dubizzle brand was founded in the UAE 10 years ago, it would be best to keep it as is for the UAE users. Re-branding the UAE market is not within our current business plan.”

He added: “With the rebranding to OLX, dubizzle is now fully part of the world’s leading network of online classifieds sites. Since 2013 dubizzle has been part of the OLX family sharing the same values and was ready to introduce the world’s biggest classifieds brand to the Middle East.

“10 Middle Eastern markets, except the UAE, are now operating under the OLX brand name and are now truly part of a global network that reaches over 240 million monthly active users and generates over 17 billion page views per month.

“Millions of people around the world already use OLX to sell their things within local communities in places like India, Brazil, Kenya, Poland, Indonesia and now 10 markets in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Algeria, Tunis and Egypt).

Existing users’ account details and their ads remain unchanged and users can log in using the same method as before and will find their ads, the statement added.

“The user experience has not changed at all. There is no impact to the sellers and their items they have posted for sale. In summary, the product, team, and service all remain the same.”

The move by Dubizzle to handover it’s outside UAE operations to OLX seems to be a step to cut operating losses.

Earlier this year, Dubizzle fired it’s CEO and senior managers in what is termed as a strategic move.