Kuwait Food Company (Americana) said that its board had agreed to give an investment firm 60 days to carry out due diligence for the acquisition of a controlling stake in the company.

Last week the Gulf-based investment firm, Adeptio, said it had signed an initial agreement to buy a 69 per cent stake in Americana from the Al Khair holding company, which is owned by Kuwait's Al-Kharafi family.

Americana has a market capitalisation of about $2.95 billion, suggesting the 69 per cent stake could be worth around $2 billion.-Reuters