A bid by a group of Gulf investors to purchase a majority stake of Kuwait's top food company and a regional leader, Americana, has failed, an official statement said today.
"No final agreement has been reached," said Al-Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate, which manages billions of dollars of stocks held by the Kharafi family, Kuwait's wealthiest merchant family, which wanted to sell its 69-percent stake in Americana.
"The two sides have agreed to end negotiations of the planned sale," Al-Khair said in a statement sent to the Kuwait Stock Exchange.
The consortium carried out a due diligence investigation before making an offer that was never disclosed.
It was the Kharafi family's second failed attempt to sell Americana after Saudi-based food company Savola reportedly offered around USD 4 billion to acquire the firm last year. That offer was rejected.
Established in 1964, Americana, or Kuwait Food Company, is the parent group that brought to the Middle East more than a dozen major food brands like KFC, Costa Cafe and TGI Friday's.
It owns more than 1,690 outlets and employs 63,000 workers in the Middle East and North Africa region. It also has 17 factories in the region and abroad and produces a variety of food products.
