Sameer Africa CEO Allan Walmsley at the AGM last Friday. He said the
strategic investor will be offered a larger stake than what Bridgestone
held. Photo/Diana Ngila
By MUGAMBI MUTEGI, pmutegi@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- Mr Naushad Merali said he is in negotiations with three prospective South-East Asian investors to take up the stake previously held by Bridgestone.
- The billionaire is also cutting his investments in the IT industry to concentrate on Sameer.
- On Friday Mr Merali said he had retired as Airtel Kenya chairman after 15 years.
Billionaire businessman Naushad Merali has said
he will in the next three months sell off more than 14.9 per cent of his
stake in tyre-maker Sameer Africa as part of a strategic shift to consolidate his manufacturing business and move away from telecoms.
Mr Merali, 63, said he is in negotiations with
three prospective South-East Asian investors to take up the stake
previously held by Bridgestone until last year when both parties
terminated an agreement to supply Sameer with technical expertise in its
tyre manufacturing and distribution division.
These discussions come at a time when the
billionaire is cutting his investments in the IT industry to concentrate
on Sameer. On Friday Mr Merali said he had retired as Airtel Kenya
chairman after 15 years.
Sameer’s incoming partner will, however, have to
part with well over Sh207.4 million, which is what Mr Merali paid to
acquire the 41.4 million shares previously held by the Tokyo-based
Bridgestone.
“We are talking to about three different
manufacturing companies and very soon, in fact within the next three
months, we will select one of them and make the announcement,” said Mr
Merali.
“The three firms are all from Southeast Asia and
they will be working to improve technology and processes in the company,
especially in the tyre business. We will give them equity in the tyre
company but the amount is subject to ongoing talks.”
Sameer started looking for another technical
partner after Bridgestone announced the withdrawal of its franchise in
April last year.
The new partner, who could be in place by
September, will be expected to help re-train Sameer employees and
introduce more efficient technology in the tyre business.
Mr Merali’s stake in Sameer Africa, which he holds
through investment vehicle Sameer Investments Ltd (SIL), is currently
at 72.15 per cent up from 57.25 per cent following the purchase of
Bridgestone shares last year.
SIL bought each share at approximately Sh5, meaning the 41.4 million shares were valued at approximately Sh207.4 million.
Sameer Africa chief executive Allan Walmsley told the Business Daily that the incoming strategic investor will be offered a larger stake than the one previously held by Bridgestone.
“The new partners will get a stake that is worth
their while,” said Mr Walmsley in an interview after Sameer’s annual
general meeting on Friday. “We are not talking along the same lines as
Bridgestone, which had 14.9 per cent. The new partners will be looking
for a bit more than that, something fairly substantial.”
Even as Mr Merali searches to realign his tyre
business, which is facing competition from cheap Chinese tyre imports,
he is reducing, and in some cases fully exiting, investments made in the
IT industr
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