For sometimes, there has been news of Shoprite planning to exit Nigeria, after posting losses. It can be confirmed that the south African superstore has finally exited Nigeria.
A Nigerian investment firm acquired the superstore from Shoprite and will take full control of it. Ketron Investment is a Nigerian company owned by a group of investors and a subsidiary of a real estate investment company, Persianas Investment Ltd, completed the takeover of Shoprite Holdings Limited on Monday. Persianas is also said to own The Palms, as one of her properties.
Shoprite, who is the largest Africa food retailer exit the Nigerian business space after 16 years of opening it first outlet in Nigeria. Shoprite is present in other West African countries as the largest food retailer superstore. They have 2,843 supermarkets in 15 countries and serving millions of customers in Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands.
Ketrons Chairman, Tayo Amusan said, “We are thrilled to complete the acquisition of Shoprite, ensuring the continued operations of one of the biggest retail success stories in Nigeria. We look forward to building an even stronger company following our acquisition and are excited about the greater impact we will achieve to the benefit of our customers and other stakeholders now and well into the future”.
Ketron acquired 100% ownership of Shoprite and the company is said to own some of the properties that housed Shoprite. The deal was brokered with advise from top professional firms like, Professional services firms, KPMG Advisory Services, MBO Capital Management Limited and Banwo & Ighodalo.
Tayo Amusan also hinted that they will ensure display and sales of made-in-Nigeria products and open new outlets.
The deal sees Shoprite change from ownership model to Franchise model. Shoprite first hinted her exit from the Nigerian market in August 2020, after a year of loss. Shoprite can be found in 11 states across the federation and the FCT, with 25 outlets.
No financial details are disclosed but American Bloomberg value the deal at a tune of $30bn. Nigeria, the most populous black nation will say a goodbye to Shoprite, but will still be able to patronize Shoprite, as a franchise.
Shoprite is also said to have exited the Kenyan market.