Alabbar-led consortium scraps acquisition of Kuwait Food Co

The multibillion-dollar sale of a majority stake in Kuwait Food Co to a consortium of Gulf investors has reportedly been scrapped following months of talks.

Reuters reports that a company owned by the Al Kharafi family had confirmed the scrapping of the sale to an investment consortium led by Dubai businessman and Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar.

In February, Adeptio agreed to buy the 69 per cent stake in the unit, known as Americana, from Al Khair Stocks and Real Estate.

Read: Alabbar-led Gulf consortium to acquire Kuwait’s Americana

The stake in the unit, which owns the Middle East franchises of fast food chains KFC and Pizza hut and produces branded consumer goods, would be worth $2.15bn based on Americana’s current market value of $3.11bn, according to Reuters.

An Adeptio spokesperson told the newswire that the two parties could not reach an agreement on mutually acceptable terms.

If the deal had gone ahead, Adeptio would have been required to launch an offer for the remaining shares in the company.

Trading in Americana’s shares was halted on Sunday pending an announcement from the firm.

The stake had been up for sale since 2014, with other interested parties said to include Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, Saudi food maker Savola Group, and private equity funds KKR and CVC.