Kenyan and East African Community (EAC) investors will receive every Quick Mart share they applied for. The Quick Mart IPO drew KES 18.41 billion in bids against KES 15 billion on offer. Foreign investors receive 49.5% of the shares they applied for. Quick Mart PLC published the results on 6 November 2026.
An IPO, or initial public offer, is the first sale of a company’s shares to the public. Sokoni Retail Kenya Limited sold 2 billion existing shares at KES 7.50 each.
Demand reached 122.7% of the shares on offer
The offer drew 18,492 applications for 2,454,598,686 shares, against 2,000,000,000 shares on sale. Bids totalled KES 18,409,490,145. That leaves excess demand of 454,598,686 shares. The offer ran from 5 October to 30 October 2026.
Quick Mart’s board, in a notice signed by Chairperson Jérôme Loubère, said it was “delighted with the strong response to the Offer”. It said excess demand appeared in every investor pool except the cornerstone pool.
Quick Mart IPO allocation
| Investor category | Pool (shares) | Shares applied for | Subscription level | Shares allocated | Allocation rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenyan and EAC retail | 240,000,000 | 318,307,820 | 132.6% | 199,641,320 | 100.0%* |
| Kenyan and EAC institutional | 640,000,000 | 700,171,500 | 109.4% | 700,171,500 | 100.0% |
| Foreign | 160,000,000 | 476,802,700 | 298.0% | 236,003,847 | 49.5% |
| Cornerstone | 960,000,000 | 959,316,666 | 99.9% | 864,183,333 | 90.1% |
| Total | 2,000,000,000 | 2,454,598,686 | 122.7% | 2,000,000,000 | 85.6%* |
*Rates exclude 118,666,500 shares applied for by founder shareholders, which received no allocation. Source: Quick Mart PLC results announcement, 6 November 2026.
Foreign investors asked for nearly three times the 160,000,000 shares reserved for them. They received 236,003,847 shares, or 11.8% of the offer, against the 8.0% reserved. Foreign investors are individuals and institutions based outside Kenya and the EAC.
Kenyan and EAC institutional investors received all 700,171,500 shares they applied for. This category covers banks, pension funds, insurers, investment banks and collective investment schemes. Retail applicants received every share eligible for allocation.
Retail demand falls below its pool once founder applications are removed
The 132.6% retail subscription includes five founder shareholder applications for 118,666,500 shares, worth KES 889,998,750. The company allocated nothing to them.
Without those applications, retail investors applied for 199,641,320 shares. By Khusoko’s calculation, that equals 83.2% of the 240,000,000 share retail pool.
Mobilist scaled back, cutting cornerstone allocation to 90.1%
Cornerstone investors commit to buy before an offer closes. Four of them submitted seven applications for 959,316,666 shares and received 864,183,333.
Mobilist, a UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office programme, committed about KES 1.94 billion to the offer. It applied for 259,800,000 shares and received 173,333,333, or 66.7%. The notice says Mobilist agreed to scale back by about USD 5 million, roughly 4.3% of the offer, to raise allocations to Kenyan and EAC institutional and foreign investors.
The other three cornerstone investors fared differently. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) received 258,000,000 shares, or 96.8%. 337 Frontier and RWC Asset Management received 100%.
Sokoni keeps 50% of Quick Mart, and the company receives no proceeds
| Shareholder after the IPO | Share of issued capital |
|---|---|
| Sokoni Retail Kenya Limited | 50.0% |
| Cornerstone investors | 21.6% |
| Kenyan and EAC institutional investors | 17.5% |
| Foreign investors | 5.9% |
| Kenyan and EAC retail investors | 5.0% |
| Total (4,000,000,000 shares) | 100.0% |
Sokoni and the cornerstone investors together hold 71.6%. Other investors hold 28.4%.
The sale uses existing shares, so no new shares are issued and the money goes to Sokoni Retail, not to the company. At KES 7.50 a share, the offer values Quick Mart at KES 30 billion. For shareholders, the company expects to pay KES 2 billion in dividends for 2026, or KES 0.50 a share, a 6.7% yield at the offer price. That figure is a company forecast.
What applicants must do before trading on 12 November
Qualified institutional investors must pay for their allocated shares by 10 November. Image Registrars Limited, the data processing agent, notifies each successful applicant of the shares allocated. Payment remains subject to the Offer Documents, and the notice does not confirm that money has been received.
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| 6 November 2026 | Results published and allocations notified |
| 10 November 2026 | Payment deadline for qualified institutional investors |
| 11 November 2026 | Shares move to applicants’ CDS accounts; refund processing starts where applicable |
| 12 November 2026 | Public trading begins on the NSE |
A CDS account is the account that holds shares at the central depository.
Quick Mart is the second NSE listing this year
Quick Mart follows the government’s KES 106 billion sale of a 65% stake in Kenya Pipeline Company in March.
Trading opens on 12 November
Quick Mart shares begin trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange on Thursday 12 November 2026, after the 10 November payment deadline and the 11 November CDS transfers.
