Kirubi will be raising his portfolio in the company from current Sh4 billion to Sh5.03 billion worth in shares, which translates to over 25 per cent stake in the company. That will make him the biggest shareholder in the company, replacing the founding shareholder, Industrial and Commercial Corporation (ICDC), which has cut down its shareholding to 22.9 percent.
In the notice for the acquisition of the stake, Kirubi stated that he had no interest in taking full control of the company. And thanks to this disclaimer, he has been granted the go ahead for the acquisition by the market regulator, the Capital Markets Authority. Earlier in the year, Kirubi tested the waters by buying sharesworth Sh86 million in the same company.
Although he says he is not taking over the company, Kirubi’s influence in the company is likely to growtremendously. His vote at the board will no doubt have a veto effect on just about everybody else. His influence will not just be in Centum but also in the listed companies where Centum has an interest as well as in theprivate companies where the firm is a shareholder.
Centum has substantial share-holding in soda bottling, Safaricom, Kenya Commercial Bank and Longhorn Publishers, among others. The intended acquisition of the majority stake in Centum is vintage Kirubi style. Since he landed on the investment markets, he has earned a reputation as an aggressive investor who will not do things in halves.
Before he offloaded his stake in the earlier part of the year, Kirubi was the biggest individual shareholder in Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC), now rebranded Kenya Power. The same with Uchumi Supermarkets before it fell under receivership in 2006. But it is not just in listed companies that he buys big into.
In UAP Insurance, one of the biggest insurance companies in East Africa, Kirubi is second to only Joe Wanjui, the indigenous pioneer shareholder in the firm. The same is the case in East African franchise for German courier firm DHL, which he privately owns. Where other investors prefer small shareholdings in private companies and then accumulate it over time, Kirubi has no qualms buying out the owners of a company completely out of their businesses at the first instant.
