Kenya's Kinuthia family's supermarket chain Quickmart lines up $55 million before IPO close

Quickmart, the Kenyan supermarket chain co-founded by the Kinuthia family, has secured commitments of up to 7.12 billion shillings ($55 million) from four cornerstone investors, days before its initial public offering closes.

The commitments cover 47.5% of the 15 billion-shilling ($116 million) offer. MOBILIST, the U.K. government's public-markets investment program, and 337 Frontier Capital LP, a U.S.-registered investment adviser, have each committed 1.94 billion shillings ($15 million). RWC Asset Management LLP, part of London-based Redwheel, has committed 1.3 billion shillings ($10 million).

The International Finance Corporation, the World Bank's private-sector arm, has made a conditional commitment of up to 1.94 billion shillings, which still needs approval from its board. Its commitment was announced shortly after the offer opened on Oct. 5.

Quickmart and the selling shareholder, Sokoni Retail Kenya Ltd., accepted the three firm commitments, worth 5.18 billion shillings ($40 million), after the Capital Markets Authority approved a supplementary information memorandum on Oct. 23. Each of the larger commitments equals about 13% of the offer and 6.5% of Quickmart's shares after the listing.

Less room for small investors

The company also changed how the shares will be divided. Cornerstone investors will now get 48% of the offer, institutional investors from Kenya and East Africa 32% and foreign investors 8%. The share set aside for Kenyan and East African retail investors has been cut to 12%, from 20% in the original prospectus. Cornerstone investors receive their full allocation even if other parts of the offer are oversubscribed, and any shares left over in undersubscribed categories will go first to retail investors.

The IPO consists of 2 billion existing shares, half of Quickmart's issued capital, at 7.50 shillings each. No new shares are being issued, so the money goes to Sokoni Retail rather than to the company.

That makes the listing a payday for Quickmart's owners. The Kinuthia family holds 31.83% of Quickmart through Sokoni Retail and is selling half of that stake, a sale worth about $37 million. Private equity firm Adenia Partners, which owns 50.79%, stands to collect about $58.8 million. The founders of Tumaini Supermarket, which merged with Quickmart in 2020, and Chief Executive Officer Peter Kang'iri are also selling half of their holdings. Sokoni Retail has agreed not to sell 60% of its remaining shares for two years after the listing.

From a Nakuru shop to the stock market

The business started as Kids Supermarket in the Rift Valley town of Nakuru, founded by the late John Kinuthia and his wife, Zipporah, and later took the Quickmart name. Their son Duncan Kinuthia, a director of the company, led its expansion beyond Nakuru. Adenia bought 51% of Quickmart in 2019 and combined it with Tumaini a year later.

The company has also ended contracts linked to its founders as it prepares to operate as a public company.

Quickmart runs 72 stores across 16 counties and reported revenue of 50.4 billion shillings ($389 million) in 2025. Kang'iri said the IPO would let Kenyan and regional investors own shares alongside international institutions.

The offer closes at 5 p.m. on Oct. 30. Results and share allocations are due on Nov. 6, and the stock is expected to begin trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange on Nov. 12. The sale will go ahead only if at least 75% of the shares are taken up.

A full take-up would value Quickmart at about 30 billion shillings ($231 million).