Adenia Partners, a private equity firm investing in Sub-Saharan Africa, and headquartered in Mauritius has been making inroads into the supermarket sector in Kenya through strategic buy-outs in the last one year.
Last month, Adenia Partners announced that it completed a majority investment in Quick Mart Limited, a major supermarket chain, operating a chain of 11 supermarkets in Kenya with 9 stores located in neighbourhood estates in Nairobi, and another 2 stores in the town of Nakuru. The transaction has been structured through Adenia Capital (IV), a EURO230mn fund.
Immediately, the buy-out managers announced that they will use the funds to expand to new locations as well as merging it with another upcoming store, Tumaini Self Service Limited which runs a supermarket by the same name.
The PE announced in December 2018, that it had completed an investment in Tumaini Self Service Limited through a special purpose vehicle, Sokoni Retail Kenya Limited. The transaction provides growth capital to Tumaini and was also structured through Adenia Capital (IV), a €230 million fund.
Tumaini operates a chain of 9 supermarkets in Kenya. A total of 6 stores are located in neighborhood estates in Nairobi, and another 3 stores are located in Kisumu.
Quick Mart and Tumaini currently have a combined store network of 25 stores, making the merged entity the 3rd largest retailer in Kenya by store network. Adenia will become the majority owner of the combined company.
Mr. Duncan Kinuthia, Managing Director of Quick Mart said: “We believe the partnership with Adenia Partners and new alliance with Tumaini will lead to the creation of a leading retailer in Kenya which not only meets our customers’ changing needs, but also offers an excellent customer experience at both our existing and new stores.”
Ms. Martha Osier, Principal at Adenia, said: “We are delighted to partner with Quick Mart, a well-established retailer and recognized brand whose stores have affordable products at convenient locations which complement customers’ busy lifestyles. We look forward to implementing the merger with Tumaini alongside our partnership with management, leveraging Adenia’s expertise in strategy, operational design and the implementation of financial controls, to achieve world-class retail standards.”
Adenia Partners have been active in various investments across the continent and is currently on its fourth fund. It has also made several exits including an investment in Orange.
