Jimbi maize flour miller on sale at Sh400m
The owners of Nairobi Flour Mills, which was processing Jimbi maize and wheat brands, have put up the business for sale at an asking price of Sh400 million.
The sale offer marks increased deal making in the packaged food business, coming soon after Kitui Flour Mills (which trades under the Dola maize and wheat brand) acquired the assets of Rafiki Millers which ceased operations in April 2021.
Prospective buyers of Nairobi Flour Mills will take over its assets including equipment, godowns, offices and two plots measuring 1.124 acres in Nairobi’s Industrial Area.
“The sale price is Sh400 million, negotiable. The owners closed down the milling plant. They are too old to manage it and this is why they are putting it up for sale,” a source familiar with the matter told this publication.
The plant that had been producing Jimbi maize and wheat products has two lines for producing two kilogramme packets of flour and one line for processing one kg packets of flour.
It has a capacity of producing 255 tonnes per day.
The sale of Nairobi Flour Mills comes soon after Kitui Flour Millers received approval from the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) to acquire Rafiki Millers.
Although the regulator did not disclose the value of the transaction, it noted that the merging parties have a combined assets valued at over Sh1 billion, hence the need to seek regulatory approval before effecting the deal.
The sector has attracted more players in the past decade, raising competition for established firms including Unga Group.
Kitui Flour Millers is the third-largest player in the wheat milling market in the country, commanding 13 percent share behind Mombasa Maize Millers which enjoys 22 percent share and Grain Industries Limited boasting 15 percent of the pie.
According to the regulator, there are more than 40 formal grain millers in Kenya with a combined capacity to mill over 85 percent of the country’s total volume.
Other major players in the wheat milling sector are Pembe Flour Mills with an eight percent market share, Uzuri Foods Limited (seven percent) and Unga Limited (four percent).
Demand for packaged maize and wheat food products has been driven by increased urbanisation and expansion of hotels and restaurants.
A large part of maize flour demand is however met by informal and small millers, most of them in rural areas.
Source Link: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/markets/commodities/jimbi-maize-flour-miller-on-sale-at-sh400m–4510018
