Centum seeks more shares of Coca-Cola bottling firms

NSE-listed investment company Centum is set to buy more shares in Almasi Beverages, signalling its intention to possibly take full ownership of the holding company of three Coca-Cola bottlers that it owns. Centum has made a limited offer to a section of Almasi’s minority investors whose shares it has proposed to buy at Sh6 each. The firm has raised its interest in the company several times since its creation in 2013 through the amalgamation of Mount Kenya Bottlers, Rift Valley Bottlers and Kisii Bottlers [...]

Uchumi grapples with Uganda bankruptcy suit

Retail chain Uchumi has filed for bankruptcy in Uganda, two months after shutting down its cross-border operations in a move that is likely to complicate its future re-entry to the neighbouring country. Uchumi has petitioned the High Court in Kampala to wind up Uchumi Supermarkets (U) Ltd, its wholly-owned subsidiary in the neighbouring state, after multiple creditors secured orders seeking to attach its properties [...]

Foreigners book net NSE outflow for first time since ‘08 chaos

Foreign investors for the first time in six years recorded a net outflow position at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in 2015 thanks to selloffs on the larger counters. Foreign investors withdrew a net Sh670 million from the market in 2015, a huge reversal having recorded net inflows of Sh3.53 billion in 2014. The bulk of the outflows came in the first half of the year when there was uncertainty over the effect and implementation of the capital gains tax [...]

Atlas creditors issued with one month notice to lodge claims

Creditors of Atlas Development’s Kenyan units have a month to lodge claims, the firms which are under liquidation said in newspaper notices. The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and London Stock Exchange listed firm started winding up its Kenyan subsidiaries—Ardan Logistics, Ardan Medical Services and Ardan Civil Engineering—last month under the weight of bad debts [...]

Jambojet to halt Lamu flights from next Tuesday

Kenya Airways-owned budget airline Jambojet will from Tuesday indefinitely suspend all flights to Lamu citing a delay in completion of expansion works at the airstrip. Construction works at the airstrip have been ongoing since 2011. The low-cost carrier, which started flying to the popular coastal destination in March last year, says the move is as a result of the slow pace of doubling the length of the Manda Airstrip runway to two kilometres [...]

Rising demand spurs Kenyan firms’ growth to 7-month high, survey shows

Kenyan businesses enjoyed their fastest rate of growth in seven months last December boosted by rising demand for goods and services spurring higher output, a monthly industry survey by CfC Stanbic shows [...]

Firm to invest Sh12bn in Kenyan real estate

Mauritian real estate fund Xterra Capital Advisors has identified Kenyan properties worth close to Sh12 billion in which it will invest the proceeds from its on-going fundraising. Xterra Capital Advisors says it will invest $114 million (Sh11.6 billion) in a 90,000 square metres high-end mixed-use development in Nairobi County [...]

Kenya Power plans Sh400m network upgrade for Machakos

Machakos residents are set to benefit from more reliable electricity supply after Kenya Power announced a Sh400 million network upgrade in the county and its environs [...]