Deacons Kenya Ltd chief executive Muchiri Wahome. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU
By CHARLES MWANIKI, cmwaniki@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- The listing of Deacons marks a rare instance of a family-owned business going public in Kenya, where many such firms prefer to remain private entities as founders fear loss of control of their business.
- It is also the first non-Gems listing on the exchange since September 2014 when the NSE self-listed through an IPO.
Fashion retailer Deacons’ shares started trading on
the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday at an unchanged Sh15
price following the company’s listing by introduction.
The firm listed 123,558,228 shares at a price of Sh15 a
share, which was unchanged after initial trades amounting to 418,000
shares. The price values the company at Sh1.85 billion.
The listing of Deacons marks a rare instance of a
family-owned business going public in Kenya, where many such firms
prefer to remain private entities as founders fear loss of control of
their business.
“This is the right time for the shareholders to
list, as they will be able to also transact in the shares more easily.
While the OTC market where Deacons has been since 2010 has its
positives, the trading processes are restrictive, such as processing the
stamp duties, sending documents to auditors to confirm the value of the
shares,” said Deacons chairman Peter Njoka.
“We want to see this sort of transition in family
businesses in Kenya, where people now take a view that they do not have
to keep pushing their children into taking over the business, since in
some cases they may not be interested in it at all,” he said.
Deacons is the second company to list on the exchange this year after shoe retailer Nairobi Business Ventures (K-Shoe), which listed on the growth and enterprise market segment (Gems) in June at a price of Sh5 a share.
The fashion retailer is also the first non-Gems
listing on the exchange since September 2014 when the NSE self-listed
through an IPO.
No comments :
Post a Comment