Following the completion of sale of a majority stake in Kuwait Food Co, also known as Americana, to Gulf-based investment firm Adeptio in October 2016, Americana is revisiting some of its core functions. This also includes its advertising mandate, wherein the company has initiated a pitch process for its media services duties.
IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative has handled the business for nearly eight years now. Initiative will defend the business, as part of the pitch. According to industry sources, the other agencies in the fray include the likes of Mindshare and the newest member of the Omnicom Media Group family – Hearts & Sciences.
As is known, Adeptio, led by Dubai businessman Mohamed Alabbar, agreed in June 2016 to pay USD 2.35 billion to acquire the stake currently owned by the Kharafis, a Kuwaiti merchant family.
Americana owns the Middle East franchises for fast food chains KFC and Pizza Hut and also produces branded consumer foods.
