Corporate News
By VICTOR JUMA, vjuma@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- February regulatory filings show that Mr Jimnah Mbaru had traded 9.4 million shares equivalent to a 3.3 per cent stake he previously held in the company.
- Mr Mbaru joins Mr Ndung’u Gathinji who is no longer listed as one of the top shareholders of TransCentury in which he held a 4.1 per cent stake when it listed in 2011.
- Other founders, including Eddy Njoroge and Zeph Mbugua, have also sold part of their shares in multiple trades over the past few years.
Businessman Jimnah Mbaru has exited the list of TransCentury’s
top owners, marking the second time a significant founder shareholder
of the investment firm has dropped from its list of major investors.
February regulatory filings show that Mr Mbaru had traded
9.4 million shares equivalent to a 3.3 per cent stake he previously held
in the company.
It was not immediately clear whether he sold or
transferred the shares that are currently worth Sh150 million based on
TransCentury’s current market price of Sh15.75.
Mr Mbaru joins Mr Ndung’u Gathinji who is no longer
listed as one of the top shareholders of TransCentury in which he held a
4.1 per cent stake when it listed in 2011.
The trade has seen the combined ownership of the top 10 founders drop to 47.5 per cent, down from 57.3 per cent in 2011.
Other founders, including Eddy Njoroge and Zeph
Mbugua, have also sold part of their shares in multiple trades over the
past few years, cashing in their long-term investment.
The investors are free to sell their entire
holdings after the expiry of the lock-in period. The Capital Markets
Authority had barred the key shareholders from selling more than half of
their stakes in the two years ended August 2013.
The latest trade has seen Mr Mbaru’s position as
the tenth largest local individual shareholder taken by Mr Job Njeru who
now holds 9.4 million shares equivalent to 3.3 per cent equity.
Mr Njeru, who is also a founder and director of the
investment firm, is stepping down from the board after declining to
offer himself for re-election at the May 29 annual general meeting.
The transaction by Mr Mbaru comes at a time when
TransCentury’s stock has dropped to the current lows, representing a
two-thirds decline from the listing price of Sh50.
The investment firm is set to launch a rights issue
that could further change its ownership structure depending on the
uptake of the cash call. The cash call will be used to to a repay $80
million (Sh7.5 billion) convertible Eurobond it issued in 2011.
The rights issue will see shareholders pump in
nearly double the company’s current market capitalisation of Sh4.4
billion and will see investors who sit out the rights issue facing
significant dilution.
Details of the upcoming rights issue, including the
expected gross proceeds and pricing of the new shares, are expected to
be published after approval of the increase in the share capital.
In preparation for the cash call, the company
announced its plans to double its authorised shares to 1.2 billion units
from the current 600 million units.
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