South African private equity firm, Investec Asset Management on Monday, July 15th, acquired Egyptian supermarket chain Spinneys, a fast rowing supermarket chain in Egypt from defunct private equity firm, Abraaj Group whose management rights has also been undertaken by private equity, Actis.

Spinneys Egypt is one of the leading grocery retail players in Egypt, having expanded to a current footprint of 13 outlets, comprising of  2 hypermarkets and 11 supermarkets, including 2 new openings in the last 8 months. The acquisition of the supermarket chain is the 8th acquisition of Investec Asset Management second pan-African private equity fund.

Commenting on the acquisition, Mohanad Adly, CEO, Spinneys Egypt, said, “We believe their international experience and financial support will enable us to accelerate our growth and roll-out of new stores, which will help to serve our Egyptian consumer. We have invested significantly to create what we believe to be a very strong value-driven offering, and have a strong pipeline of new stores planned.”

Additionally, Investec Asset Management in partnership with Growthpoint Property also acquired 97.5% of Achimota retail center in Accra, Ghana. The joint venture (Growthpoint Investec African Properties – GIAP) will seek to invest in income-producing commercial real estate assets in select cities across the African continent.