Quickmart opens Sh15 billion IPO at Sh7.50 a share as NSE listing beginsQuickmart has opened its public share offer, giving Kenyans a chance to buy into one of the country’s largest supermarket chains before it lists on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.The offer, which opened at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, 5 October 2026, prices 2 billion existing ordinary shares at KSh 7.50 each. That values the retailer at KSh 30 billion and puts the offer size at KSh 15 billion if it is fully taken up. The shares represent half of Quick Mart PLC’s issued capital of 4 billion shares. Trading on the NSE’s Main Investment Market Segment is expected to start on 12 November 2026.The sale is an offer for sale, not a fresh capital raise. Sokoni Retail Kenya Limited, which currently owns 100 per cent of Quickmart, is the selling shareholder. Quickmart will issue no new shares and will receive none of the proceeds. Net proceeds, estimated at about KSh 14.4 billion, go to Sokoni and, through it, to its owners: funds managed by Mauritius-based private equity firm Adenia Partners, the Kinuthia family that founded Quickmart, the founders of Tumaini Supermarkets, and group chief executive Peter Kang’iri.Sokoni’s largest shareholder is Sokoni Retail Holdings Limited (50.8 per cent, itself largely owned by Adenia Capital funds). The Kinuthia family holds 31.9 per cent, Tumaini founders 12.0 per cent, and Kang’iri 5.4 per cent. After the offer, Sokoni has agreed not to sell 60 per cent of its remaining shares for 24 months from the listing date.The International Finance Corporation has conditionally committed about KSh 1.94 billion (up to USD 15 million) as a cornerstone investor, equivalent to roughly 12.9 per cent of the offer and about 6.45 per cent of the company after listing. The commitment is subject to IFC board approval and is not an endorsement of the offer.If the offer is oversubscribed, the indicative split is Kenyan retail investors 20 per cent, Kenyan institutions 35 per cent, East African Community investors 12 per cent, foreign investors 20 per cent, and the cornerstone investor 13 per cent. Quickmart employees receive preferential treatment inside the Kenyan retail pool. Unallocated shares from undersubscribed categories can be moved to oversubscribed ones, with Kenyan retail first in line.A rare large retail listingFounded in Nakuru in 2006 by the late John Kinuthia and his son Duncan, Quickmart grew into Kenya’s second-largest modern grocery retailer by store count and turnover, with an estimated 15 per cent of the formal grocery market. Adenia invested in 2019 and combined the chain with Tumaini from 1 January 2020; former Tumaini stores now trade under the Quickmart brand.The company operates 72 stores across 16 counties, records about five million customer transactions a month, and has roughly 2.5 million members in its Q-Points loyalty programme. It employs more than 8,000 people and runs a negative working-capital model in which customers pay cash and suppliers are typically paid in about 30 days. Management says further expansion, targeted at 10 to 15 new stores a year, will be funded from internally generated cash rather than from this offer. The network is expected to reach 73 outlets by the end of 2026.Revenue rose from KSh 25.7 billion in FY2021 to KSh 50.4 billion in FY2025, with adjusted profit after tax of KSh 1.7 billion in the latest full year. For the six months to 30 June 2026, revenue was KSh 27.3 billion and adjusted profit after tax KSh 976.1 million. The company projects revenue of KSh 58.2 billion in FY2026 and KSh 67.4 billion in FY2027.At the offer price, Quickmart is valued at about 12.9 times projected FY2026 adjusted earnings and 5.7 times projected enterprise value to adjusted EBITDA. A projected dividend of KSh 0.50 per share for FY2026 implies a yield of about 6.7 per cent. The board intends to target a payout of 95 per cent of profit after tax for FY2026, 90 per cent for FY2027, and at least 80 per cent thereafter, paid semi-annually. Dividends remain at the board’s discretion and are not guaranteed. For Kenyan residents and EAC citizens, dividends are subject to 5 per cent withholding tax; gains on the sale of listed shares are exempt from capital gains tax.How to applyThe minimum application is 500 shares, or KSh 3,750. Further applications must be in multiples of 100 shares (KSh 750). There is no maximum. Applicants need a valid CDSC account. Applications are irrevocable and cannot be withdrawn or amended without the company’s written consent.Investors can apply in three ways:Online at the official portal, quickmartipo.e-offer.app By USSD, dialling 483803#, for individual investors with a registered Kenyan mobile number and a valid CDS account, up to KSh 250,000 per paymentBy physical form, downloaded from the portal or collected from authorised agents, and submitted to a placing agentRetail investors must pay by the close of the offer. Qualified institutional investors pay on 10 November.The offer runs until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, 30 October 2026. Results and allocation notices are due on 6 November, CDS accounts are to be credited on 11 November, and listing and trading are scheduled for 12 November. The offer is conditional on valid applications for at least 75 per cent of the shares (1.5 billion) and allotment to at least 250 investors. If that threshold is missed, the offer lapses and application money is refunded within 14 business days, without interest. The offer is not underwritten.For shoppers who already know the aisles, the listing is a chance to own a slice of a familiar business. For the market, it is one of the larger Main Investment Market Segment offers in recent years, and a partial exit for private equity after a period in which several rival chains collapsed or withdrew. Investors should read the Information Memorandum before applying. This article is not a recommendation to buy or sell the shares.
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