Billionaire joins Britam board in family shake-up

Benson Wairegi, CEO Britam with British American Investment chairman Dawood Rawat. Mr Rawat has joined the board of Britam. Photo/FILE  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By Victor Juma

In Summary

• Dawood Rawat has joined the board of investment firm Britam
• Mr Rawat, the largest investor in Britam with an 18 per cent stake worth Sh5.8 billion, joins his nephew, Moussa Rawat who was appointed a director of Britam in August and Tarun Ghulati, an executive of one of the Rawats’ business units, who joined the board in May
• The investor preferred to influence board decisions at the firm through former chairman Nicholas Ashford-Hodges, who was on Friday replaced by former head of public service Francis Muthaura

Mauritian billionaire Dawood Rawat has joined the board of investment firm Britam in the latest directorship changes engineered by the Rawat business empire.

Mr Rawat, the largest investor in Britam with an 18 per cent stake worth Sh5.8 billion, joins his nephew, Moussa Rawat who was appointed a director of Britam in August and Tarun Ghulati, an executive of one of the Rawats’ business units, who joined the board in May.

The investor preferred to influence board decisions at the firm through former chairman Nicholas Ashford-Hodges, who was on Friday replaced by former head of public service Francis Muthaura.

The shake-up indicates a push by the Rawat family for deeper involvement in the management of the firm.

The changes have led to the exit of Saleem Beebeejaun, who was replaced as chief executive of British American Investment (BAI),the holding company of the Rawat business empire including its Britam stake.

BAI says Mr Rawat is mainly focused on strategic issues and the development of new business ventures in new markets for the group, with his presence in Britam’s board signaling further expansion plans by the NSE-listed firm.

Recently, Britam has been on an expansion spree, including the planned buyout of rival Real Insurance and the purchase of 25 per cent stake in property development firm Acorn as it looks into real estate and foreign subsidiaries for growth.

“Mr Rawat (Dawood) has been appointed in place of Mr Ashford-Hodges who has stepped down,” said Nancy Kiruki, Britam’s company secretary.

The directorship changes have left the Rawats with four of 11 board positions, with the rest held by local billionaire entrepreneurs who have been long term co-investors with the Mauritian.

Among them are Equity Bank chairman Peter Munga, Jimnah Mbaru (owner of Dyer & Blair Investment Bank) and Benson Wairegi (Britam’s CEO).

BAI was forced to cede a third of its stake in Britam to local investors in 1984 to comply with a government directive to have significant ownership by Kenyans.

Then, at the height of President Moi’s era, Britam was only dealing in insurance as opposed to now when it has property and asset management divisions.

In 2006, Kenyan investors acquired an additional 30 per cent stake from BAI.

It’s not clear at what stage when the current local shareholders, led by Mr Mbaru, Mr Munga, Mr Wairegi and Equity CEO James Mwangi, acquired stakes in the financial services firm.

Despite the twin dilutions, Mr Rawat has remained the single largest shareholder in Britam with 385.5 million shares.