WINSTON-SALEM N.C. Just days after revealing an 11.3-percent stake in Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., a Kuwaiti contract company with a controlling interest in a Middle East Krispy Kreme franchise has purchased an additional 71,900 shares in the U.S. restaurant concern, boosting its aggregate holding to 11.4 percent, or 7.37 million shares.
Mohamed Abdulmohsin Al Kharafi & Sons WLL is Krispy Kreme's largest shareholder after increasing its stake steadily since April, when it owned 6.7-percent of the outstanding shares in Krispy Kreme. Based here, Krispy Kreme is the operator or franchisor of about 400 namesake locations.
Al Kharafi & Sons controls the Americana Group, Krispy Kreme's franchisee in the Middle East, which agreed in May 2006 to open as many as 100 units during the next five years. Two locations are currently open in Kuwait, and key development markets for Krispy Kreme and Americana include Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the companies have said.
Krispy Kreme has said it wants to focus on overseas development as it continues to rebuild its domestic system after more than three years of store closures, falling sales and accounting investigations, many of which have been settled.
Americana, a restaurant, food processing, distribution and retail company, operates franchised locations of KFC, Pizza Hut, Hardee's, Baskin-Robbins and T.G.I. Friday's.
When Al Kharafi & Sons filed a full disclosure of its securities holdings within Krispy Kreme on June 8, the company said the investments were passive in nature and "were not acquired and are not held for the purpose of É changing or influencing the control of [the company]."