Quickmart has ended a series of consultancy and management agreements with entities linked to its founders as it readies for an initial public offering.

The terminations, effective from July 2026, involve contracts worth hundreds of millions of shillings and are presented as a step to improve corporate governance and reduce potential conflicts of interest.

In the year ended December 2025 the retailer paid KSh208.4 million in management fees to its intermediate and ultimate parent firms Sokoni Retail Kenya Limited and Sokoni Holdings Limited, up from KSh141.4 million the previous year.

Sokoni Retail Holdings had provided strategic oversight, operational guidance, financial management structure advice and executive support services, while Sokoni Retail Kenya supplied high-level strategic management and retail consultancy.

Quickmart also terminated agreements with Basic Land Investment Limited, which received KSh268.7 million in the year to December 2025 and KSh99.4 million in the half-year to June 2026 for property sourcing, construction negotiation and lease advisory services.

Resource Business Investments Limited lost its contract after being paid KSh161 million in the last year and KSh84.9 million in the half-year to June 2026 for business expansion, market advisory and site acquisition services.

Other firms whose contracts were ended include Acres Advisors Limited, WLL Valued Added Limited, Mondin Consulting Limited and individual consultant Elijah Okello, who holds a 4.4 per cent stake in Sokoni Retail Kenya.

Quickmart noted that overlapping service areas meant the retailer had been paying multiple firms for the same expertise.

The retailer disclosed that 18 of its store locations are leased from enterprises controlled by the founders or by the founder of Tumaini Self Service, and that all such leases are on arms-length terms.

The company said the arrangements “may give rise to actual or perceived conflicts of interest” but affirmed that directors and senior management have no known conflicts that could materially affect the offer.

Current owners are offering two billion shares at KSh7.5 each, valuing the partial exit at KSh15 billion, with the IPO opening on Monday last week and closing on October 30, 2026.

Quickmart reported a net profit of KSh1.5 billion for the last financial year, up from KSh1.1 billion, and sales of KSh50.4 billion, rising from KSh46.7 billion, driven by new store openings and higher shopper traffic.

Once listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Quickmart will become the second publicly-traded retailer after Uchumi Supermarkets, which remains in insolvency.