Naivas Supermarket, often referred to simply as "Naivas", is the largest supermarket chain in

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, with 84 outlets as of June 2022. A that time, Naivas was the largest supermarket chain in Kenya, ahead of

Quick Mart Limited Quick Mart, also Quickmart, is a Kenyan supermarket chain. As of June 2022, it was the second largest supermarket chain in the country, behind market leader, Naivas Limited, with 84 stores and over 8,000 employees. At that time, according to i ...

with 51 outlets in the country.

Location

The company headquarters, as well as the company's warehouses, are located in Sameer Business Park, in the ''Industrial Area'' of

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

, the capital and largest city of Kenya. The coordinates of the headquarters of Naivas Limited are: 01°19'36.0"S, 36°52'04.0"E (Latitude:-1.326667; Longitude:36.867779).

Overview

Naivas is headquartered in

, with retail outlets in many urban centres in the country. In July 2018, the company hired Andreas von Paleske, as an advisor to assist the business with its strategy and operations. This culminated in bringing African private equity firm Amethis on board for a minority stake. At that time, Naivas Limited maintained 47 stores in Kenya. The supermarket chain opened its 53rd store in Kenya in July 2019 at Rongai,

Nakuru County Nakuru County is a county in Kenya. It is County number 32 out of the 47 Kenyan Counties. Nakuru County is a host to Kenya's Forth City – Nakuru City. On 1 December 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta awarded a City Charter status to Nakuru, ranki ...

, with plans to open two more, the same year.

History

Naivas Limited was registered on 24 July 1990. It previously traded as Rongai Self Service Stores Limited, serving mainly in Rongai in

. The company name was changed later to Naivasha Self Service Stores Limited, before re-branding to the current Naivas Limited, in 2007. In August 2013, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Massmart, a subsidiary of retail giant

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, offered to acquire a 51 per cent stake in Naivas at a cost of KSh3 billion, giving Massmart a controlling interest in the retail chain. The bid triggered a feud at family-owned Naivas, and some family members asked a court to block the sale. In October 2013, Naivas management stated that they were no longer selling a controlling stake to Massmart. On 16 July 2014, Naivas opened a store in

Garissa Garissa ( so, Gaarrisa) is the capital of Garissa County, Kenya. It is situated in the former North Eastern Province. Geography The Tana River, which rises in Mount Kenya east of Nyeri, flows through the Garissa. The Bour-Algi Giraffe Sanctuar ...

, making it the first major retailer to open an outlet in the town. This was Naivas' 31st branch in Kenya.

Ownership

Naivas Limited is a privately owned company, whose shares are majorly held by the descendants of its founder Peter Mukuha Kago, who died on 6 May 2010.

November 2014

The table below depicts the shareholding as of November 2014:

April 2020

In February 2020, the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) approved the acquisition of 30 percent of Naivas shareholding by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

equity firm Amethis Finance at an undisclosed sum. In April 2020,

Business Daily Africa ''Business Daily Africa'', commonly known as ''Business Daily'', is an English-language daily business newspaper published in Kenya. The newspaper is published by Nation Media Group from its headquarters at Nation Centre on Kimathi Street in Nairo ...

reported that the International Finance Corporation had acquired a minority stake in the company for US$15 million (KSh1.5 billion). As of that date the new shareholding in Naivas Limited, is as illustrated in the table below:

June 2022

In June 2022, a consortium led by Mauritian investment conglomerate ''IBL Group'', bought out the IFC-led consortium at an undisclosed price. When that deal closes, the shareholding in Naivas Limited will look as depicted in the table below.

Branches

, the supermarket chain maintained forty-three branches across Kenya with the Nairobi south c branch being the latest. By February 2018, that number had risen to 45, with the latest addition being the Capital Centre Mall Branch, along Mombasa Road in Nairobi. In February 2020, the supermarket chain is expected to open its 64th store as the

anchor tenant In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. Wit ...

in the mega city mall, in

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Kenya by population, third-largest city in Kenya after the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa (census 2019). It is the third-largest city after Kampala and Mwanza in the Lake Victor ...

. By June 2022, the retail chain had grown to 84 outlets in Kenya.

References

External links

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Naivas Siblings Get Court Orders To Sell Big Brother’s ShopUpdated List of branches
{{Coord, 01, 19, 36, S, 36, 52, 04, E, display=title Supermarkets of Kenya Retail companies established in 1990 Kenyan companies established in 1990 Companies based in Nairobi