A Kenya Airways aircraft at the JKIA in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Kenya Airways shares have
been suspended from trading on the Nairobi bourse for three months as
the process of State takeover enters a crucial stage.
Nairobi Securities Exchange said in a Friday morning statement that KQ had applied for the suspension.
This will also see the airline’s share register closed until the resolution of its future is determined.
“The
company’s operational and corporate restructure and Government buy-out
is now imminent following the publication of the National Management
Aviation Bill, 2020, on 18th June 2020,” said NSE.
“Consequently,
the company has applied for suspension of trading in its shares and
closure of its register until the resolution of its future is
determined.”
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has approved the suspension,
which will see KQ shareholders unable to buy or sell their shares
during the period.
The suspension sets in immediately
and will remain in force up to October 3 and comes at a time KQ share
has been witnessing a rally, defying the generally bearish bourse since
Covid-19 struck in mid-March.
KQ share has gained by
173.57 percent in the last three months - the highest on the bourse - to
close Thursday trading at Sh3.83.
The return of KQ to
the NSE now lies in the hands of Parliament given that the passage of
the National Aviation Management Bill 2020 will see government take back
full control of the national carrier by October and delist it.
The
loss-making airline, which is 48.9 percent government-owned and 7.8
percent held by Air France-KLM, was privatised 24 years ago but sank
into debt and losses in 2014.
Air-France KLM, which had
the option of selling its stake to the government and staying on as a
technical partner for the airline, has opted to exit.
The
national carrier has been operating only cargo flights for essentials
such as medicine since Covid-19 but is now hoping for gradual resumption
of passenger flights.
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