The Story of Naivas Supermarket Since 1990

Naivas Supermarket is clearly the biggest retail store chain in Kenya. And does not seem to be slowing anytime soon as it launches its 101st supermarket in Kakamega. The chain’s campaign dubbed “#Beyond100” has seen it expand beyond the a hundred mark. It now has stores in all the major towns in Kenya such as Mombasa, Nairobi, Nakuru, Kisumu, Eldoret, Bungoma, Naivasha, Nanyuki, Meru, Kisii, Thika, Kiambu towns among many others. Lately, it has started expanding into estates and city avenues with a high cashflow capacity such as the newly launched Branch at Lavington and the upcoming Mwanzi Road store.

Interestingly, this kind of hyper expansion strategies of Naivas Supermarket comes at the backdrop of the various retail stores closing shop in Kenya. With the majority barely surviving as they leaned their budgets. As we all know, the previously well known household brands such as Tuskys Supermarket, Uchumi Supermarket, Nakumatt all went down in a span of five years apart. Then you would wonder what kind of magic this company that also traces its roots to the enterprising city of Nakuru – just as Gilanis, Nakumatt that started as Nakuru Mattresses and Rivanas Supermarket uses to achieve this unimaginable success. In this article, we delve into its story, ownership and the opportunities it presents to the country.

How Naivas Supermarket Started

The supermarket’s humble beginnings can be retraced back to the late founder: Mr Peter Mukuha Kago who was the visionary behind this iconic brand as we know it today. It started as Rongai Self-Service Stores that was family owned on 27th July 1990. Exactly 33 years ago! The family’s relentless pursuit for entrepreneurial excellence, pushed the store’s growth to include wholesale and distribution services within a short time. Later on, the business got registered as a company in 1993. Just 3 years since opening its doors.

In an interview with David Mukuha, the late Peter Kago’s son, he alludes to the early days. “The business was initially established to serve the local Rongai Community. Its success paved the way for a new branch at Elburgon area in 1995”. With the founder aggressively reinvesting back the profits realized in the business, he was able to expand further into Naivasha and changed the name to Naivasha Self-Service Stores. And later finally rebranded to NAIVAS!

By 2001, the company had expanded vigorously beyond the Nakuru region and had stamped its presence in major towns in Kenya. By this time, the retailer had setup branches in Mombasa, Nairobi, Naivasha, Eldoret, Machakos, Kitui, Embu, Nakuru among many others. Naivas supermarket has since grown through leaps and bounds to reach now over 100 branches employing over 10,000 employees. And this begs the question, who owns Naivas?

Who Owns Naivas Supermarket

The late founder Peter Kago was the owner of the retail brand till his demise when four of his children; David Kimani, Simon Gachwe, Wairimu Linet and Wambui Grace inherited his stake in the company with his firstborn son, Newton Gakiri Mukuha missing out. Newton Gakiri contested the same decision in court and lost the case as reported by Business Daily. Simon Gachwe served as the company board chairman till his passing in 2019 when the three surviving siblings took over the reigns.

With the company now currently valued at over Ksh. 54 Billion according to Pulse, its new divestment strategy has seen it bring onboard regional investors to take it to the next level. Initially, the family through its family holding company, Gakiwawa Family held their entire stake before bringing onboard other investors such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), German Fund DEG and private Equity Funds Amethis and MCB Equity Fund. In the first share sale transaction in 2020, IFC, DEG and the Private Equity companies through Amethis Retail Ltd bought a 31.5% stake in the company at Ksh. 6 Billion diluting the founder family’s ownership to 68.5%.

Later on, the representative company Amethis Retail Ltd sold its 31.5% shares at Ksh. 14.37 Billion thereby more than doubling their investment while the Gakiwawa Family topped up the 8.5% stake in the sale thus pocketing Ksh. 3.8 Billion to a consortium led by a Mauritius based conglomerate IBL Group through an investment vehicle: Mambo Retail Limited. “On 10 August 2022, Mambo Retail acquired 40 percent stake in Naivas International, representing all shares previously held by Amethis Retail Limited and … part of the shares held by Gakiwawa Family,” IBL in a circular to its shareholders.

Furthermore, other institutional investors have an indirect stake in Naivas International through Mambo Retail Ltd. Through IBL Group’s majority equity investment in Mambo Retail of 65.8%, it owns an indirect ownership of 26.32% of Naivas Supermarket. Proparco and DEG also holds indirect stakes in Naivas of 8.29% and 5.39% respectively.

In June 2023, the family sold another 11% stake to Mambo Retail Ltd at an estamated value of Ksh. 5.8 Billion hence relinquishing majority control to foreigners; IBL, DEG and Proparco through Mambo Retail. The latest transaction dropped the family ownership to 49%.