DUBAI, June 19 (Reuters) – A majority stake in Saudi fast food chain Kudu has been put up for sale and private equity firm KKR is among the bidders, four banking and industry sources said on Wednesday.
* Majority stake in food chain Kudu for sale – sources
* More than 40 potential bidders were approached – sources
* Business valued at between 1-1.5 bln riyals – source
* HSBC advising on stake sale – sources
Saudi Arabia is the largest Gulf Arab economy and there has been increasing interest among international investors in the kingdom’s booming consumer sector.
Riyadh-based Kudu, which operates more than 200 restaurants in the kingdom, is owned by four individual shareholders, including chairman and chief executive Abdulmohsen Bin Abdulaziz Al Yahya, according to data from Zawya, a Thomson Reuters unit.
The company, founded in 1988, has grown rapidly in recent years and is expected to record a net income of nearly 100 million riyals ($26.7 million) this year, one of the sources said.
Based on a valuation of 10-15 times earnings, Kudu may be valued at between 1 billion riyals to 1.5 billion riyals, a second source said.
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KKR among bidders for Saudi fast food chain
