The signs have been there for a while that South African retailer Shoprite was not doing well in its Tanzanian and Ugandan business and it was just a matter of time before they quit the markets.

That was finally confirmed this week when Kenya’s and East Africa’s giant retailers, Nakumatt Holdings, that acquired Shoprite stores in Tanzania in  2014, said it was in advanced stages of negotiations to take the remaining stores the South African retailer had in Uganda.

In an interview with Business Daily on Tuesday, Nakumatt Holding’s head of strategy and operation Thiagarajan Ramamurthy said the deal will be sealed in less than two weeks.

“We will be signing the Memorandum of Understanding with Shoprite to acquire their outlets in Uganda,” Ramamurthy said.

Nakumatt acquired three Shoprite outlets in Tanzanian last year in a deal valued at about 4 billion shillings ($45.5 million).

Shoprite exited the Tanzanian market after the government warned it against flooding its outlets with South African made consumables, a development Nakumatt exploited to boost its retail network in East Africa.

In Uganda, the entry of new retailers such as Uchumi, Capital Shoppers, Quality, Nakumatt and Tuskys had contributed to its decision to exit.

“At this point, we are not in a position to disclose specific details on the Shoprite expression of interest. We shall, however, provide such information in due course once we reach a suitable agreement,” Nakumatt Holdings managing director Atul Shah told The East African last week.

Nakumatt, which has over 49 stores in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda and employs over 4000 people, said last month it intended to renovate and rebrand the Shoprite stores it acquired in Tanzania.

The regional retailer also plan to enter Burundi and South Sudan in the next three years.