Simbisa Brands has bought out the minority shareholder in Kutuma Kenya, the delivery company for its fast-food chains, as home delivery accounts for more than a quarter of the group’s turnover in the country.
The Zimbabwean group, whose brands include Pizza Inn, Chicken Inn, Galito’s, Creamy Inn and Bakers’ Inn, recorded a net cash outflow of KES 85.8 million ($663,882) for the remaining 25% stake, according to its annual accounts. Simbisa owned all of Kutuma at the end of June, up from 75% in the previous year.
The buyout gives Simbisa full ownership of a business that is already using its delivery network to serve other merchants. Kutuma operates Dial a Delivery, which handles orders for Simbisa’s chains, as well as Yum, which lists restaurants and grocery stores in Nairobi, and Swyft, a delivery service for businesses. Kutuma wants to build a marketplace around those operations.
That plan puts the fast-food operator in competition with other delivery apps such as Glovo, Uber Eats and Bolt Food. However, Simbisa’s restaurants give Kutuma an existing source of orders. If it can pick up more orders from nearby restaurants and shops, it could keep riders busier and spread the cost of deliveries across more orders.
Home deliveries
Simbisa completed 3.23 million deliveries in Kenya in the year to June, up from 2.03 million…
