Nakumatt of Kenya Plans Strategic Partnership by Mid-2015

Nakumatt Holdings Ltd., East Africa’s biggest retail chain by outlets, expects a “strategic” investor to buy a stake by mid-2015 as it looks to expand in the region, the head of strategy and operations said.

The company, with annual sales of $600 million, has held talks with at least two “serious investors” who have shown an interest in partnering with Nakumatt, Thiagarajan Ramamurthy said in an interview yesterday in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The company said in August it plans to sell a 20 percent stake after announcing last year it’s seeking to raise as much as $50 million in a possible partnership with other retail chains.