Majid Al Futtaim, the Dubai based conglomerate, is preparing to acquire a stake in Spinney's, the regional supermarket chain. This was confirmed by its CEO, Iyad Malas when he spoke to Al Bawaba during the World Economic Forum held in Jordan.

Malas said that MAD is in the 'early stages' of studying a deal to buyout the interest of private equity firm Abraaj Group from Spinney's.

The second largest stake in Spinney's is currently being held by Abraaj. Spinneys operates hypermarts and supermarkets in the Gulf region, namely Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Qatar. There are plans being drafter to expand into other African and Gulf markets in the future.

According to Malas, "The opportunities around acquisitions have been and are primarily going to be in retail, meaning supermarkets and hypermarkets." Any deal, he added, would be worth 'below US$500 million'.

Earlier, Malas told Reuters that MAF was earmarking between US$600 million and US$1 billion this year. After its previous purchase of 25% of Carrefour, it is now in discussion with Egypt's Mansour group as to the acquisition of its chain of Metro supermarkets.