(Bloomberg) -- Dubai-based private equity firm Gateway Partners is considering selling its stake in the Gulf franchise of Tim Hortons Inc., four years after its initial investment in the Canadian coffee chain, according to people familiar with the matter.
Gateway is working with BNP Paribas SA on the sale which is expected to receive non-binding bids in the coming weeks, the people said, declining to be named because the information is private. The plans are at an early stage and could still change, they said.
Spokespeople for Gateway and BNP Paribas declined to comment.
Buoyed by a growing middle class with more purchasing power, regional retail companies have increasingly become attractive to overseas investors. The owner of T.J.Maxx recently acquired a stake in Dubai-based discount retailer Brands for Less, and cosmetics firm Huda Beauty is considering selling its perfume division, Bloomberg News reported last month.
Gateway in 2020 paid about $50 million for a 40% stake in Tim Hortons’ regional franchise, which has roughly 338 outlets across the Gulf including in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and India.
The first regional Tim Hortons cafe opened in Dubai in 2011 but has since expanded, more than doubling the number of outlets in the years since Gateway’s investment. The franchise is owned by AG Café International, a joint venture entity owned by Dubai-based retail conglomerate Apparel Group and Gateway.
Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings Inc. and former Federal Reserve official Roger Ferguson recently bought minority stakes in Gateway, which was co-founded in 2014 by former Standard Chartered Plc top executive Viswanathan Shankar.
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