Artcaffe acquires Dormans to cement Nairobi presence

A Dormans outlet on Mama Ngina street, Nairobi. PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL | FILE

By  DAVID HERBLING

What you need to know:

  • Dormans’ disposal of its coffee shops signals the firm will now concentrate on coffee processing and export
  • The deal will increase Artcaffe’s outlets to 11 from the current four

Dormans coffee shops have been taken over by rival Artcaffe as the chic restaurant seeks a wider presence in Nairobi and Mombasa.

The competition watchdog told the Business Daily that Artcaffe, a coffee and pastries shop, has acquired seven outlets owned by Dormans for an undisclosed amount.

The deal will increase Artcaffe’s outlets to 11 from the current four and gives it a presence in more shopping malls like Yaya Centre, Karen and City Mall in Mombasa where Dormans had shops.

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It also offers it a presence in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) and a departure from Artcaffe’s preferred location in shopping malls like the Junction, Galleria, Junction, Village Market and Thika Road Mall.

“We have approved it. The deal involves seven shops,” said Wang’ombe Kariuki, director-general of the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK). The Business Daily failed to get a comment from both Dormans and Artcaffe on this deal

Dormans’ disposal of its coffee shops signals the firm will now concentrate on coffee processing and export.

The firm, which started operations in Kenya under the C. Dormans brand in 1950, blends and exports local coffee to markets such as the US, Germany, China, Ireland and South Africa.

It is owned by ED&F Man, a London-based firm that trades in agricultural commodities specifically sugar, molasses and coffee.

ARTCAFFE NOW SECOND LARGEST CHAIN

People with knowledge of the deal say Artcaffe will re-launch the Dormans branches and will officially take over the rival’s operations on February 1. 

Artcaffe opened shop in 2009 and is now ranked Kenya’s second largest coffee chain in terms of total outlets behind Java House which has 17. It offers coffee, tea, meals and each unit has an in-house bakery serving croissants and cakes.

The chain previously had four shops located at Galleria, Junction, Village Market and Thika Road Mall.

Artcaffe together with other top coffee shops, Dormans and Java, lost their Westgate shops following the terror attack on the mall in September.

The Dormans deal comes less than two years after US-based private equity firm, Emerging Capital Partners, bought a 90 per cent stake in Nairobi Java House.

This story was published in the Business Daily of January 27, 2014.

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