The CEO of Rubicon Group Holding, Ms. Randa Ayoubi has been awarded “Businesswomen of the Year 2010” at the CEO Middle East Awards 2010. Ms. Ayoubi won the award in recognition for her pioneering commitment to the digital content and entertainment industry in the Middle East at a ceremony opened by His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Bin Hasher Al Maktoum. During the course of the year, Rubicon Group Holding has signed a number of high profile strategic partnerships with global and regional leaders in the media and communication industries, such as Turner Broadcasting and Etisalat. Rubicon and Turner Broadcasting, for example, have entered into a strategic partnership covering a wide array of development, production, broadcasting and merchandising initiatives to broadcast Rubicon’s new Ben & Izzy and Tareq wa Shireen animated series on Cartoon Network Arabic beginning in October 2010, and in additional regions that include Europe, Asia and North America.

The strategic partnership with Etisalat constitutes a joint venture that was a regional first, where Rubicon will create and manage brand new content that is designed to aid learning and educate younger customers in an entertaining format, a concept known as edutainment.

Furthermore, Rubicon has teamed up with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc (MGM) to produce a new half-hour animated Christmas Special starring MGM’s most valuable property, the one-and-only Pink Panther. The new collaboration came as a result of the dedication and commitment to quality Rubicon has shown in the production of Pink Panther & Pals.

The last year has also seen Rubicon continue its investment into CGI, 3D and motion capture technology to the extent that it now operates some of the best facilities in the Middle East. As a consequence Rubicon has been able to recently attract international talent from Hollywood blockbusters such as Avatar to work on its many productions.

On this occasion Ms. Ayoubi says: “I want to thank ITP for presenting us with this award. It is a fantastic accolade that represents the team effort my colleagues in Amman, Dubai, Los Angeles, and Manila have all put into making 2010 a success for the Rubicon Group. Like never before; market, social and cultural forces have come together to create a new world of possibilities for Rubicon.”

Anil Bhoyrul, Editorial Director, ITP Executive added: “The judges looked at a lot of very strong nominations in this sector but felt Randa stood out for several reasons – not only her leadership and the product she is delivering, but more importantly, putting her company and industry on a global stage.”