Amethis Finance and Metier have acquired a significant minority stake in the packaged food business of Kenafric Industries, a major FMCG group in East Africa.

The Kenafric Group was founded in 1987 by Velji Punja Shah and his four sons. 

Since then, the Group has diversified into confectionery, footwear, culinary and stationery manufacturing. 

This transaction is limited to the confectionery and culinary business and the Shah family will continue to operate the footwear and stationery business separately. 

Kenafric enjoys a leading position in the packaged food sector, being one of the best known local FMCG brands in East Africa.

Kenafric is engaged in the manufacture, branding and distribution of confectionery, snacks, ready- to-drink juices and culinary spices products. 

The company is unique in the packaged food sector in East Africa, having built strong entry barriers based on: a capillary distribution network, strong premium brands and a pan-African regional footprint. 

The Group sells around 45% of its production outside Kenya.

Kenafric has reached a critical size and now intends to expand into a regional packaged food platform, leveraging on its existing strengths of an excellent route to market to broaden its product range and basket offering. 

The fragmented East African market offers a unique opportunity for acquisitions and strategic partnerships. 

The stated aim is to be able to supply the entire range of snacking products in a kiosk through adjacencies and brand extensions. 

Kenafric, Amethis and Metier have been working together on a promising acquisitions pipeline. 

Amethis has a long-standing relationship with the Shah Family and the transaction developed as a result of this relationship.

Jean-Sebastien Bergasse, Amethis Partner, said: “Having built a trustworthy relationship with Kenafric’s management over the past years, we are excited about this partnership which will allow Kenafric to leverage on its strong existing base to expand into a diversified packaged food platform in East Africa. Thanks to this partnership, Kenafric is now poised to engage into a new phase of its history.”

For Metier, this marks its first investment in Kenya. 

Metier enjoys a long and successful track-record in private equity investing in Southern Africa and has already realized and successfully exited similar transactions in the packaged food industry.

Paul Botha, Metier’s Managing Partner, said: “Metier, as a partner to both the Shah family and Amethis, are glad and proud to seal a partnership with Kenafric to support the business’ future evolution while contributing to the development of the regional consumer goods sector.” 

The Shah family is bringing along external partners to the family business for the very first time, with the ambition to institutionalize the business and achieve its ambitious vision.

“We are excited about the partnership with Amethis and Metier. Through this investment, we will seek to leverage the deep relationships that they enjoy in the region, operational support and a strong capital base to accelerate future growth’”, commented Bharat Shah, Chairman at Kenafric.

BellHouse Capital, Pratul Shah and Bowmans Law acted as the company’s transaction advisors while Anjarwala & Khanna and KPMG represented the investors.