DUBAI, Nov 11 (Reuters) - TPG Capital and Abraaj Group haveteamed up to compete against KKR & Co as the privateequity firms eye a majority stake in Saudi Arabian fast-foodchain Kudu, three banking and industry sources said.
Riyadh-based Kudu, which operates more than 200 restaurantsin the kingdom, is owned by four individual shareholders,including chairman and chief executive Abdulmohsen Bin AbdulazizAl Yahya, according to data from Zawya, a Thomson Reuters unit.
Abraaj, the Middle East's largest private equity firm, hasrecently roped in TPG to the bidding process and was previouslybidding solely for the stake, the sources said, speaking oncondition of anonymity as the matter has not been made public.
Kudu is worth around 2 billion riyals ($533.3 million) basedon a valuation of around 20 times earnings, one of the sourcessaid. Kudu is expected to have net income of around 100 millionriyals this year, the source said.
KKR, TPG and Abraaj all declined to comment, while Kuducould not be reached for comment.
Reuters reported in June that a majority stake in thebusiness has been put up for sale and KKR was one of thepotential bidders.