Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

A buyout group including KKR & Co. and CVC Capital Partners Ltd. is the leading bidder to acquire Middle Eastern fast-food operator Kuwait Food Co. after interest from Saudi Arabian firm Savola Group waned, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The private-equity firms, who submitted a joint offer for the $3.8 billion operator of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in the Middle East, are still negotiating a price with its Kuwaiti owners and haven’t reached an agreement yet, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The talks with Kuwait Foods, which is known as Americana, may still fall apart, the people said.

Savola Group, a food producer with a market value of about $11.1 billion, and the private-equity group submitted non- binding bids for Americana in October, the people said. Americana, which also has a food manufacturing business, said Nov. 4 that it hadn’t reached any final agreement on the sale.

Americana, founded in 1964, posted net income of $178 million for the fiscal year ending 2013, from sales of $3 billion. Its shares have risen 10 percent this year. Kuwait’s Kharafi family owns 67 percent of Americana, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Savola shares dropped as much as 4.3 percent in Saudi Arabian trading today and closed down 3.7 percent. Americana shares were unchanged on the Kuwait stock exchange.

Spokesmen for Savola Group and CVC declined to comment. Representatives for KKR and Americana couldn’t be reached for comment.