Joseph Bonyo
9 July 2008
Nairobi — Unilever Tea could be de-listed from the Nairobi Stock Exchange, if a process it kicked off on Tuesday succeeds.
Its majority shareholder, Brooke Bond Group, has expressed interest in taking over of the firm. The firm is a subsidiary of Unilever PLC.
Brooke Bond announced on Tuesday it plans to purchase 5.7 million shares of Unilever Tea at a price of Sh62 per share, or 11.76 per cent of the company.
According to Mr Job Kihumba, research director at Standard Investment Bank, the bid is yet to get approval from the market Capital Market Authority (CMA) and the NSE.
Respond
"This is just a takeover intention by the group. Unilever Tea Kenya would be required to respond to it in 10 days. It is after this that the outcome of the market regulators would inform the way forward," said Mr Kihumba.
Standard Investments Bank is the sponsoring stockbroker in the transaction.
Currently, Brooke Bond Group Limited holds 88.24 per cent stake in Unilever and this latest move will see them acquire 100 per cent shareholding in the listed firm.
Shareholders and directors of the firm will also be required to approve the bid. Unilever has already applied to the Capital Markets Authority and the Nairobi Stock Exchange to have trading of the stock suspended. Should the deal fall through, trading will resume on October 19.
Brooke Bond Group is incorporated in England and Wales and its other subsidiary in the region includes Unilever Tea Tanzania Ltd. Unilever PLC on the other hand is listed on both London and New York stock exchanges.
With its operations based at their tea estate on the Nakuru-Kericho highway, the firm was previously known as Brooke Bond Kenya. The name was changed in 2004.
Today, the firm owns 20 tea estates, eight factories with a manufacturing capacity of an annual capacity of 32 million kilogrammes.
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