Owners of Ukwala Supermarkets are set to make nearky Ksh1 billion from the sell of 10 stores to a foreign retail operator.
Botswana’s Choppies has entered into a “conditional agreement” with Ukwala Supermarkets that would see it pay Ksh910 million to take over 10 supermarkets, hardly a year after the Competition Authority of Kenya rejected a bid by Tuskys to take over the budget retail chain over monopoly fears.
Choppies, which has listed its 1.2 billion shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, said that the transaction was in line with its plans to have a footprint across African continent. Choppies operates 125 stores in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. It intends to operate nearly 200 stores by December 2016 in at least six countries.
The Botswana-based retail giant will take over Ukwala branches in Nairobi, Nakuru and Kisumu, giving it a major launch pad into Kenya’s lucrative retail sector. The chain’s CEO Ramachandran Ottapathu, said the successful listing on JSE has given the company the much-needed impetus to expand further into the East African market in the coming months.
Choppies also plans to start operations in Namibia, Zambia and Tanzania in the next two months targeting lower-to middle-income consumers. The supermarket is also listed on the primary segment of the Botswana Stock Exchange and it is currently the top supermarket chain there.
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