Kuwait’s Americana valued at $4 bln in Alabbar-led bid

Dubai-based Adeptio, a consortium of Gulf investors led by Emaar’s chairman Mohammed Al Abbar, has valued Kuwait Food Co. (Americana) at $4 billion in an agreement to buy out the company’s family owner, Bloomberg has reported, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter.

The investor group is currently conducting due diligence on the takeover bid, the sources said, adding that the consortium is comprised of prominent families from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.

The valuation, which has not been acknowledged by Alabbar or the Kuwaiti company, represents a 36 percent premium on Americana’s market value.

Americana’s stock rose by nearly 1 percent on the news and ended Monday’s session 0.9 percent higher at KWD 2.32.

Last month, Adeptio said it had signed an initial agreement to buy Al Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate Co.’s 69 percent stake in Americana. Al Khair National is the investment arm of Kuwaiti family conglomerate Al-Kharafi. Sources close to matter earlier told Bloomberg that Adeptio was seeking $2 billion from banks to fund its bid.

Americana owns the Middle East franchises for popular fast food chains KFC and Pizza Hut.