Singapore’s Temasek joins Saudi Savola in bid for Americana: report

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte has joined Saudi Arabia’s Savola Group to bid for Kuwait Food Co, known as Americana, in a deal that could reach $5 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the talks.

An agreement could be reached by the end of the year, Bloomberg quoted the sources as saying.

Savola started talks to buy the company at the end of last year. A buyout group including KKR & Co. and CVC Capital Partners Lts also bid for the Kuwaiti company after it started the sale process in mid-2014, the sources told Bloomberg.

JPMorgan Chase & Co is said to be advising Savola on the talks.

Americana, 66.8 percent owned by Kuwait’s al-Kharafi family, is the franchise operator of fast food restaurants such as KFC, TGI Friday’s Inc and Pizza Hut in the Middle East and North Africa. It produces California Garden beans and Farm Frites frozen vegetables.

The company reported net income of $183 million for the fiscal year ending 2013 on sales of $3.2 billion. The stock has dropped over the past month, erasing about $1 billion from the company’s market value, according to Bloomberg.