Retail KFC’s Mena franchisee to offer 30% stake in GCC dual listings By Reuters November 2, 2022 Creative Commons The concurrent dual listing is expected on December 12 Americana Restaurants, the Middle East and North Africa franchisee of fast-food restaurants KFC and Pizza Hut, said it planned to launch an initial public offering (IPO), followed by a dual listing in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Adeptio Investments, an investment vehicle jointly-held by Dubai businessman and founder of Emaar Properties Mohammed Alabbar and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is offering about 2.53 billion existing ordinary shares, representing 30 percent of the company, Americana said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. The IPO would start from November 14 to 21 for retail investors in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and November 14 to 22 for institutional investors in both the countries. Following its public share-sale, it expects to list on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Saudi Exchange on or around December 6, it said. Americana said it is targeting a partial dividend distribution of about 75 percent of net profit attributable to its parent firm for the second half of this fiscal year, to be paid in cash during the first six months of the next year. From 2023 onwards, Americana plans to adopt an annual dividend policy, distributing a minimum of 50 percent of net profit attributable to its parent, with “the intention to further distribute any cash not specifically reserved for general corporate purposes, growth investment or merger and acquisition activity”, it added.
