DUBAI—A group of Persian Gulf investors has agreed to buy a majority stake in the Middle Eastern operator of fast-food brands, such as KFC, Pizza Hut and Hardee’s, for about $2.5 billion, just weeks after the deal had appeared to collapse.
The sale of Kuwait Food Co., also known as Americana, would cap a process that started in 2014 and attracted interest from global heavyweight investors including buyout firm KKR & Co. and Singapore’s Temasek. The takeover saga came to illustrate the capricious nature of the Middle Eastern market for mergers and acquisitions, where large transactions often get drawn out, or falter at the last moment.
Under the terms of the transaction, the investment group named Adeptio will buy a controlling stake in Americana from an entity owned by the wealthy Kuwaiti Kharafi family at 2.65 Kuwaiti dinars ($8.78) a share, it said late Saturday. The offer represents a 26% premium over its June 15 closing market price. Adeptio will then offer to buy the remaining shares outstanding at the same price, as per Kuwaiti stock market rules.
