TransCentury’s big owners lose Sh5bn in share price fall
Investment firm TransCentury’s top owners have lost more than Sh5 billion of paper wealth since the company went public four years ago. In the past three months, for instance, TransCentury’s share price has shed more than a quarter of its value to close Thursday’s trading at Sh13.50. Analysts do not anticipate a quick recovery of the share price, indicating that the founders must prepare to hold their positions in the long term to avoid actualising the losses. Plans by the company to raise additional cash through a rights issue have further dampened the stock price as investors fear probable losses in the looming dilution while others simply await details of the offer […]
Kenya plans to privatise five sugar firms within a year
Kenya, through the Privatization Commission, has approved sale of the government’s stakes in five sugar companies and expects to sell 75 per cent stakes in transactions that will be completed in the next nine to 12 months. The five companies are in urgent need of modernisation to survive competition from the entry of other sugar producers and an impending end to sugar import limits from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) trade bloc after the end of a one-year extension given early this year […]
Shareholders approve formation of KCB Group Limited
Kenya Commercial Bank Limited shareholders have approved formation of KCB Group Limited, a non-operating holding company that will own the bank and all its other interests including regional subsidiaries. Subject to regulatory approvals, the reorganisation exercise will see KCB Limited, the current company; transfer its banking business to a new subsidiary, KCB Bank Kenya Limited. Following the transfer of assets and liabilities, KCB Limited will remain as a non-operating holding company approved to operate as such by the Central Bank of Kenya and subsequently renamed KCB Group Limited. The new Group holding company will oversee KCB Bank Kenya Limited, subsidiaries in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan […]
Unilever expands personal care business in Kenya
Consumer goods maker, Unilever, is expanding its personal care segment in Kenya and the regional market as part of its global strategy to diversify its business. The company, which has recently introduced two hair care brands in East Africa, is betting on improving economic growth in Kenya and the region to expand its market share […]