NAIROBI, Kenya – The Dubai growth market investment company, Abraaj Group has announced that it’s buying 100% of Java House Group from private equity firm Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), and the Company’s founder and chairman, Kevin Ashley.
Founded in Dubai in 2002 by Arif Naqvi, the investment group has grown to have a total asset base of more than $10 billion.
Java House Group is East Africa’s leading coffee-led casual dining chain established in Nairobi in 1999.
The group’s majority stake was acquired in 2012 by the Emerging Capital Partners, with the founder retaining a minority stake.
Java House Group was established in Nairobi in 1999. In 2012, Emerging Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in the Company, with the founder retaining a minority stake.
ECP has helped Java House grow from 13 shops in Nairobi to a footprint of 60 stores across 10 cities in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
The Java House Group has three flagship brands: Java House, the largest coffee-led, all-day casual dining concept; Planet Yogurt, the self-service frozen yogurt chain; and 360 Degrees Artisan Pizza, an upmarket Italian pizzeria concept.
Java House also operates commercial coffee roasteries, providing coffee and bean sales to its own stores and to supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and wholesale buyers.
“This landmark transaction, which showcases our ability to source outstanding assets across our target markets, is a compelling opportunity to build on Java House’s success story across sub-Saharan Africa, to create a true regional champion.
Africa’s rapidly expanding middle class, sustained population growth and increasing urbanisation is creating compelling investment opportunities in multiple sectors, and we believe Java House is ideally positioned to benefit from these trends,” said Commenting on the transaction, Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, Managing Partner and Global Head of Private Equity at The Abraaj Group.
“In partnership with Java’s founder Kevin Ashley and a talented management team, we have taken the business from one city and just 13 locations when we originally identified the deal and scaled it across East Africa to three countries and 60 sites today.
Abraaj is taking over the reins of a powerhouse African brand at an exciting time in its growth trajectory with enormous potential to further expand a successful formula across the continent,” said Bryce Fort, a Founding Partner of ECP and head of the pan-African firm’s Nairobi office.
