The family of Nicholas Biwott a smart and ambitious move to sell shareholding in oil company Kenol Kobil which was for a long time recognised as Mr Biwott’s flagship investment in Kenya and the most visible having acquired a stake in it in the early 1980s.
To benefit from the deal, which values KenolKobil at Sh 35.7 billion, will be heirs of the Biwott estate who — through Wells Petroleum Holdings Ltd on Tuesday agreed to sell their 24.99 per cent shareholding in the company to Rubis for Sh 5.6 billion in order to lay the ground for a takeover.
“The family (Biwott’s) is the one that sold the block of shares on Tuesday, and it is widely believed that they have additional interest in the company,” revealed a source.
Tanzanian billionaires Aunali and Sajjad Rajabali are the only individuals named on the top shareholders list, jointly holding a 5.22 per cent stake in the firm that, after the sale, will net them Sh 1.8 billion.
Petro Holdings Ltd, with a 12.9 percent stake equivalent to 190 million shares, stands to net Sh 4.4 billion under the takeover terms offered by Rubis.
Rubis expects to complete the takeover early next year, its chief financial officer Bruno Krief said yesterday, pending approval from various regulators including CMA, the Competition Authority of Kenya and the Energy Regulatory Commission.
The Biwott family will make another Sh 2.8 billion once the takeover bid announced by Rubis sails through as expected. This is because Wells Petroleum Holdings sold its block stake at Sh 15.30 per share, giving Rubis the platform from which to buy out other shareholders in KenolKobil. Rubis will pay Sh 23 per share for the remaining shareholding, a premium that will be extended to Wells Petroleum Holdings.
“Rubis Énergie agreed that on the successful conclusion of such a takeover offer, it will pay to Wells an amount equal to the difference between the offer price per share ultimately paid by Rubis Énergie to other shareholders of KenolKobil pursuant to the offer and the market price paid to Wells for every share that purchased from Wells pursuant to the block trade,” said Rubis in a notice issued Wednesday.
It made sales of Sh 90 billion in the six months ended June 2018, which translated to a net profit of Sh 1.7 billion.
The firm Kenol Kobil has been listed on the NSE since 1959, making it one of the oldest publicly traded companies in Kenya. It will be delisted from the NSE if the takeover is successful, Rubis announced Wednesday.
The takeover has high chances of success given that Rubis must have lobbied the cooperation of other shareholders besides Wells Petroleum. The top 10 shareholders in KenolKobil hold 64.4 per cent of the company, as per the latest available filings dated February 201, 2018. Nine of these are either institutional investors or nominee accounts, whose individual beneficiary owners are unknown.