UAE’s Mubadala-backed Reef and Americana partner to open cloud kitchens across MENA

UAE’s Mubadala-backed Reef and Americana partner to open cloud kitchens across MENA

UAE’s Mubadala Capital-backed Reef, the largest operator of delivery kitchens, logistics, and proximity hubs in North America, has announced a joint venture with and Americana Group (Americana), the largest food and beverage operator in the Middle East region. The JV has been formed with the aim of opening cloud kitchens that will operate Reef, Americana and third-party brands throughout the Middle East and North Africa. It is expected that the latest partnership will accelerate Reef’s expansion through Americana’s real estate portfolio and end-to-end value chain throughout the region. In 2020, Mubadala Capital, a wholly owned asset management subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, led a $700m funding round into Reef, along with SoftBank, Oaktree Capital Management, UBS Asset Management and Target Global. Reef has a proximity ecosystem of over 8,000 locations and a team of more than 18,000 members. The company established its presence in the Middle East in August 2021. To date, the company has partnered with several international brands to bring its cloud kitchens concept to local neighborhoods, including MrBeast Burger in Dubai and Another Wing, which Reef globally launched in partnership with DJ Khaled, opening 165 locations in three continents. In November last year, Reef acquired iKcon Restaurant,