Clifford Chance advises on sale of Americana

The firm is advising Al Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate on the sale of its majority stake in the F&B business.

Clifford Chance is advising Al Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate (Al Kharafi Family) on the sale of its majority stake in Americana, one of the leading F&B business in the Middle East.

With a network of over 1,200 outlets, Americana is the largest operator of restaurant chains in the MENA region, including brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut, Hardee’s, TGI Friday’s, Costa Coffee and Krispy Kreme. In addition, Americana has one of the region’s most significant food manufacturing businesses, including California Garden.

A binding agreement to implement the sale was entered into on June 18, 2016 with AdeptioAD Investments, an investment company controlled by HE Mohamed Alabbar.

According to a statement released by the firm, the proposed sale of the Kharafi family’s stake in Americana is by some margin the largest M&A deal in the region for 2016 to date.

The Clifford Chance team is led by M&A partner Mohammed Al-Shukairy. The transaction entails both private M&A aspects as well as public M&A processes, as Americana is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. Completion of the sale is subject to limited conditions, customary for a transaction of this nature.