Dubai: After nearly 18 months, a buyer finally has emerged for Kuwait-based food group Americana.

A GCC-based consortium has said it will acquire Al Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate Company’s stake in Kuwait’s Americana food company.

Al Khair notified Americana about its deal with the Gulf consortium, and asked Americana’s board to cooperate with a consortium led by UAE-businessman Mohammad Al Abbar.

The deal must still be approved by Kuwait’s Capital Markets Authority. The consortium said it is planning to offer a mandatory acquisition of Americana as per the rules and regulations of Kuwait’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA and Kuwait Stock Exchange.)

In a statement, Al Abbar said: “Americana is a leading food group with a long and successful history, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to be part of Americana’s rich legacy that was built over the past five decades.”

He added: “We see a bright future for Americana, and we look forward to the development of the group in the future.”

The value of the deal has not be disclosed, but the company’s estimated value in 2014 was $6 billion (Dh22 billion). According to the company’s last annual report, also in 2014, it saw annual sales of $3.2 billion.

Al Khair has been in numerous talks over the past years to sell its stake in Americana, starting in August of 2014. By January of 2015, Savola Group Company, along with private equity funds KKR and CVC, were seen as the main bidders for the company.

Saudi’s Kingdom Holdings Company also made an offer in 2014.

Al American was founded in 1964 and is backed by the Al Kharafi family, which owns 66.8 per cent of Americana, according to Thomson Reuters data.

According to its website, it is active in 13 countries and employees over 63,000 people.

Americana Group’s main business includes KFC, Pizza Hut, Costa Coffee, Krispy Kreme outlets throughout the Middle East. It is one of the largest operators of restaurant chains in the Mena region, with 23 in total.

It also manufactures food products, including the California Garden and Koki brands.