Tokyo-listed online recipe portal Cookpad has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Netsila, the Lebanon-based company behind Arabic language recipe website Shahiya.com, for US$13.5 million. Cookpad’s acquisition will facilitate an exit for MENA-focused venture capital firm Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP). MEVP originally invested in the company in 2012. Subject to customary closing conditions, the acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015.