Two of America’s largest private equity firms, Carlyle Group and TPG Capital, are looking to acquire Kenyan coffee chain Java House is a deal that could be worth as much as $100 million.
According to a report by Kenyan newspaper Business Daily, the two giant PE firms are among a group of institutional investors who are making a bid to purchase the coffee chain from its current owners, Emerging capital Partners (ECP).
In 2012, Emerging Capital Partners, a leading Pan-African private equity firm, acquired a controlling stake in Java House for an undisclosed sum from its American founders, Kevin Ashley and John Wagner. ECP currently owns an estimated 90% stake in the company.
During the 2012 transaction, ECP announced in a statement that the bulk of the funds it used to acquire the controlling interest in the coffee chain went into funding Java’s growth, and not into its founders’ pockets. This means that the founders stand to cash out significantly this time around.
Java House, which was founded in 1999 by American entrepreneurs Kevin Ashley and John Wagner, is East Africa’s largest coffee chain. It operates close to 50 outlets in Kenya and Uganda and has more than 1,000 employees. The chain is famous for serving a variety of Kenyan coffees and teas, home baked bread and Mexican cuisine.
In 2015, Kevin Ashley told Business Daily that Java’s annual revenue was $30 million.
A representative for Carlyle Group and TPG Capital did not respond to a request for comment as at the time of filing this report.