DPI has announced a $165 million equity investment in Kazyon Ltd, the UK parent company of Egypt’s largest discount store, “Kazyon.” Other investors, such as British International Investment (BII), South Suez, and others, are also investing in the company. The investment shows that the company still believes in the Egyptian retail sector and sets up the business for future growth as it looks to speed up its plan to expand across Africa.
Kazyon was started in 2014 with the goal of serving the underserved markets in Egypt and the surrounding area with affordable products. Since its founding in 2022, when DPI made its first investment, the company has grown a lot, becoming Egypt’s largest discount retailer with over 600 stores in 18 governorates. The company sells groceries to millions of customers at reasonable prices, and each of its neighborhood stores carries a limited range of products. The business is based on its own logistics network, which has centralized distribution centers all over the country. One of the biggest customer loyalty programs in the Middle East and Africa gives rewards to customers who stick with the company.
Building on Kazyon’s strong brand recognition in Egypt, attractive customer proposition, and scalable business model, the investment recognizes Kazyon’s size and significant growth potential as it looks to speed up its expansion strategy by replicating the successful model it has built in Egypt in new markets.
DPI will help Kazyon speed up its ambitious plan to grow by opening more stores across Egypt and moving into new markets. Kazyon will also use DPI’s expertise in ESG and Impact by implementing new proprietary ESG action plans to help the business become more sustainable and institutionalized for future growth.
“I am proud of what Kazyon achieved over the last few years. This investment solidifies our position as the leading grocery retailer in Egypt and could not have happened without the trust of millions of customers that we serve regularly, and the dedication of the thousands of employees led by a very capable management team. DPI’s funding and contributions are helping the company to achieve its ambitions to become the largest discount retailer in Africa,” Hassan Heikal, Chairman and Founder of Kazyon Ltd, said.
Founded in 2014, Kazyon provides groceries to millions of customers offering a focused range of products across its neighborhood stores.
Ziad Abaza, Partner at Development Partners International said: “Kazyon is an exciting business that has seen significant transformation since it was founded, and under Hassan Heikal’s leadership has established itself as one of the leading grocery retailers in Egypt. The retail market in the region remains significantly underpenetrated and there is significant demand for the products and services Kazyon offers with a growth model that has been proven many times in multiple markets. The business has a successful track
record of innovation, creating new solutions that continually improve customer experience. The business is fast evolving into a tech empowered provider of retail goods to the under-served mass market and we are excited to partner with Hassan and his experienced management team in this next phase of the company’s growth.”
