Portuguese retail group Sonae has teamed up with private fund Satya Capital to buy the Extra supermarket chain in Mozambique.

The deal will be conducted by S2 Africa, an acquisitions vehicle focused on retail set up in 2014 by London-based Satya Capital and Sonae Distribuição, which owns the Continente hypermarket chain in Portugal, reports online portal Zitamar News.

Extra used to belong to South African retail group Pick n Pay, which left Mozambique in 2013 after failing to make the business profitable. It was then sold to ADC, a partnership set up by Mozambican retail group Africom Limited and Delta Trading & Compendia.

The Extra chain is based on a low-cost format and has its own private label range, which is also sold outside its network. The group has experienced some difficulties, especially with the drop in value of the Mozambican currency. Extra currently has 25 supermarkets, including 15 in the capital, Maputo.

Sonae is already present in Africa, namely in Mozambique, via clothing store brand MO. There were also plans to launch a network of hypermarkets in Angola, but sold its 49 per cent stake in the venture last year to local businesswoman Isabel dos Santos.

Source: ESM