Middle East KFC Operator Americana Group Starts Early Talks Over Listing - Bloomberg
The operator of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants across the Middle East and North Africa is in preliminary discussions for a potential listing, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Americana Group, owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and an investment vehicle led by Dubai-based businessman Mohamed Alabbar, has held early stage talks with advisers over a listing in the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia, the people said.
Discussions are ongoing, but no advisers have been hired and there is no certainty the IPO will materialize, they said, asking not to be identified as the information is not public.
The firm could also opt for a rare dual listing in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the people said. Saudi Arabia’s bourse has been seeking to encourage firms to dual list for years and while none have yet done so, Bahrain’s biggest telecommunications firm is considering it.
An initial public offering of Americana could raise about $1 billion, one of the people said, but details on latest valuation weren’t immediately available. The firm was valued at about $3.5 billion when it was taken private in 2017.
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