Quickmart Cuts Local Investor Allocation to 44% After Foreign Cornerstone Funding of KSh7.2bn

Quickmart Plc has revised its IPO share allocation, cutting the maximum share for Kenyan investors to 44 per cent of the 2 billion shares on offer, down from an initial 67 per cent.

High-net-worth investors from the United States and Britain have invested KSh7.1 billion in the IPO, making local investors the biggest losers in the allocation review.

The amendment follows commitments from four cornerstone investors – US-based 337 Frontier Capital LP, UK fund RWC Asset Management LLP, the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) – who together pledged KSh7.2 billion for 48 per cent of the shares, giving them an estimated 24 per cent stake when the retailer lists on the Nairobi Securities Exchange on November 11.

The cornerstone investors each intend to buy shares worth roughly KSh1.94 billion, representing a 6.5 per cent holding for the FCDO and the IFC, while 337 Frontier contributes KSh1.94 billion and RWC adds KSh1.3 billion.

The share reserved for foreign investors has been reduced to eight per cent of the issue, equivalent to a four per cent stake, after the influx of high-net-worth funding.

Quickmart’s supplementary information memorandum dated October 23 states that the indicative allocations are not binding and may be adjusted by the issuer and the selling shareholder in consultation with lead transaction advisors.

The IPO, which opened on October 5, seeks to sell half of the retailer’s equity, with the owners of Sokoni Retail Kenya Ltd (SRKL) receiving proceeds of about KSh15 billion.

SRKL’s ownership structure includes private-equity firm Adenia (50.79 per cent), the Kinuthia family (31.83 per cent), the founders of Tumaini Supermarket (12.02 per cent) and CEO Peter Kang’iri (5.36 per cent); each will cede half of their holdings in the transaction.

Adenia is set to receive KSh7.62 billion from the sale of 1.06 billion shares, the Kinuthia family a total windfall of KSh4.77 billion, the Tumaini founders KSh1.8 billion and CEO Kang’iri KSh803.3 million.

Quickmart, Kenya’s second-largest retail chain with 72 stores across 16 counties and an estimated 15 per cent market share, reported a 33 per cent rise in net profit to KSh1.51 billion and a 9.3 per cent increase in sales to KSh50.43 billion for the year ended December 2025, and paid a dividend of KSh1.65 billion (109 per cent payout ratio).

The retailer aims to more than double revenue to about KSh130 billion (US$1 billion) and expand its store network to 125 locations within four years, targeting an 80 per cent earnings distribution policy in the coming years.