Dubai’s Adeptio to pay $2.4 bln for stake in Kuwait’s Americana

Adeptio, a Dubai-based consortium led by Emaar Properties chairman Mohamed Alabbar, has agreed to buy a majority stake in the Kuwait Food Company (Americana) for about $2.4 billion, news agencies reported.

The consortium has inked a deal with Al Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate, controlled by Kuwait’s Al Kharafi family, which will see it buy all of Al Khair’s Americana shares at 2.65 dinars each, Adeptio said on Saturday.

The price represents a 26 percent premium to the last closing price on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported.

Once the stake purchase is complete, Adeptio will launch a mandatory takeover offer to remaining Americana shareholders at the same price.

Al Khair’s 69 percent stake in Americana– which owns the Middle East franchises for brands like KFC and Pizza Hut– has been up for sale since 2014.

While Adeptio had agreed to buy the stake in February this year, Americana said last month that the sale had been scrapped.

However, talks between the two parties resumed last week, Reuters reported.

Adeptio initially aimed to secure a $1.5 billion loan from a group of banks including Standard Chartered, Credit Suisse, Emirates NBD, and First Gulf Bank in order to help finance its first offer to buy a majority stake in Americana. The same banks will be involved in financing any new deal, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

In a separate statement, UK-based law firm Clifford Chance said it would be advising the Al Kharafi family on the sale of its stake in Americana. The team, led by M&A partner Mohammed Al-Shukairy, has been advising on all legal aspects of the transaction since its inception in 2014 as an auction process.