Naivas Sale of 30% Stake to French PE Firm Permitted By the Competition Authority

A green light has been given to Naivas International by the Competition Authority of Kenya for it to sell 30% of its stake to French Private Equity firm, Amenthis.

All of Naivas’ Kenyan subsidiary, which is a supermarket chain, will therefore be controlled by Amethis.

In line with the acquisition, the authority spells out the following conditions:

• The merged entity to honor all the current contracts with suppliers
• All the reconciled and outstanding debts owed to suppliers be paid
• The merged entity to review its existing and future contracts with suppliers

Plans to sell the 30% stake to Amethis, had been revealed by the retail chain earlier this year in January however, the two companies did not reveal how much the PE firm will inject into the retail chain.

The capital injection seeks to boost the retail chain’s survival in the otherwise highly competitive market.

With 58 stores spread across Kenya; Naivas is a leading supermarket chain.

Apart from Kenya, Amethis is already operational in Madagascar, Mauritius, and Tunisia.