Naivas readies expansion after equity sale nets billions
Kenyan retail giant Naivas looks all set for its next phase of growth after the founding Mukuha family ceded 8.5 percent stake to a Mauritius-based conglomerate IBL Group for Kes3.8 billion in a deal that valued the supermarket chain at Kes45.6 billion.
The Mauritian corporation aggregated with Proparco from France and Germany’s DEG to create Mambo Retail which the international investors used to acquire 40 percent shareholding.
In a dispatch to its shareholders, IBL Group, the dominant partner in Mambo Retail, disclosed that it paid $100 million (roughly Kes12 billion) to acquire 26.32 percent of Naivas, including the 8.5 percent stake previously owned by the heirs to the retail chain for $32.29 million or Kes3.8 billion in August 2022.
IBL’s associates in Mambo Retail share the remaining 13.68 percent with DEG taking up 5.39 percent after investing $20.47 million (Kes2.45 billion) and Proparco deserving 8.29 percent stake after putting in $31.5 million (Kes3.7 billion).
Members of the Mukuha family Martha Waithera, David Kimani and Grace Muthoni owned 100 percent of Naivas before selling 31.5 percent to Amethis Retail Limited —a consortium of three firms including DEG — for Kes6 billion in 2020 to retain a 68.5 percent stake of the retail chain.
Read also: Rising food, fuel prices push inflation to 8.5 percent in August
Constituents of Amethis Retail Limited agreed to sell their holdings in Naivas to Mambo Retail for $119.68 million (Kes14.37 billion), allowing DEG to exit the previous arrangement and make a comeback on board the new investment vehicle Mambo Retail.
The latest shakeup in the ownership of Naivas Supermarkets leaves the Mukuha family with 60 percent of the franchise.
Proceeds from the equity sale are expected to bolster the expansion drive of a retail chain that is keen on defending its status as the market leader by filling the void left by crisis-saddled Tuskys, Nakumatt and Uchumi supermarkets.
In Greenspan and Juja City malls, Naivas assumed the spaces previously leased to struggling retailer Tuskys.
In October last year, the supermarket with an orange logo moved into Uchumi’s space in Aga Khan Walk following the collapse of the state-owned retailer.
