(NAIROBI, KENYA) – A UK government investment arm is buying a 6.5% stake in Kenyan retailer Quickmart through its initial public offering (IPO) for KES 1.94 billion ($15 million), the latest foreign anchor investment in the chain.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) will buy 260 million of the two billion shares on offer. The purchase is being made through MOBILIST, a UK government programme that uses public funds to buy stakes in private companies, in what is seen as a shift away from traditional foreign aid.
The FCDO will join the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private investment arm, as a cornerstone investor in the KES 15 billion ($116 million) IPO, which values Quickmart at KES 30 billion ($232 million).
The IFC has committed to buying a similar 6.5% stake for KES 1.94 billion ($15 million), boosting confidence in an offer that closes on 30th October.
For the IFC, this is not its first equity investment in a Kenyan retailer. It took part in a consortium that bought and sold a 31.5% stake in Naivas between 2020 and 2022 at a profit.
The IFC and MOBILIST are seeking a similar return from Quickmart on exit, supported by the retailer’s expansion plans and steady dividend payouts.
“We welcome MOBILIST as an investment partner as we broaden Quickmart’s ownership. With MOBILIST’s support, our proposed listing will help realise Quickmart’s ambition to create long-term shareholder value,” Quickmart Plc chief executive Peter Kang’iri said.
The Quickmart deal is MOBILIST’s latest investment through Kenyan public markets, after its role as cornerstone investor in the March 2026 listing of Kenya’s first US dollar-denominated industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), floated by Africa Logistics Properties.
MOBILIST invested $9 million (KES 1.2 billion) in the Africa Logistics Properties industrial REIT, which raised KES 3.82 billion ($29.5 million) from investors.
Cornerstone investors are institutional or high net worth investors who agree in advance to buy a specific stake in an IPO, signalling confidence in an offer to other buyers.
The IFC said its participation is not an endorsement or recommendation to other investors to join the IPO.
In the Quickmart IPO, current owners are selling two billion shares, equal to a 50% stake. They include Mauritius-registered private equity fund Adenia Partners, the founders of Quickmart and Tumaini supermarkets, and chief executive Peter Kang’iri.
Their shares are held through an investment vehicle known as Sokoni Retail Kenya Limited (SRKL).
The IPO could bring in other large investors. Allocation rules set aside 35% of offer shares for Kenyan institutional investors, equal to an eventual holding of 17.5% of the company’s issued shares.
Local retail and foreign investors have been allocated 20% each, East African Community investors 12%, and the IFC 13%. These limits can be adjusted depending on subscription levels in each investor category.
Quickmart is now Kenya’s second largest retail chain behind Naivas by store count and turnover, with an estimated 15% share of the market. It has 72 stores in 16 counties.
In the year ended December 2025, Quickmart reported a 33% rise in net profit to KES 1.51 billion ($11.7 million). Sales rose 9.3% to KES 50.43 billion ($390 million).
The retailer paid shareholders a dividend of KES 1.65 billion ($12.8 million), a payout ratio of 109%, and aims to distribute at least 80% of earnings to shareholders in the coming years.