Joseph Bonyo
3 November 2009
Nairobi — Shareholders of BOC and Carbacid can once again trade in their stocks at the Nairobi Stock Exchange beginning Wednesday.
This follows the lifting of a suspension put on the two firms in December 2005 by the Capital Markets Authority and the bourse.
In a statement from the NSE on Tuesday, chief executive Peter Mwangi said this was pursuant to Section 11(3) (i) of the Capital Markets Act.
"The NSE wishes to indicate that all the regulatory approvals have been given," said Mr Mwangi.
BOC Kenya and Carbacid Investments were suspended from trading to protect shareholders from speculative tendencies in view of the proposed acquisition.
The key condition in the deal to warrant the takeover, and subsequent delisting of Carbacid from the NSE, was that at least 80 per cent of Carbacid shareholders support the takeover. Only 71 per cent, however, backed it.
A tussle ensued culminating in the issue being brought before the Capital Markets Tribunal before ending up in the High Court.
This was recently resolved when the two parties agreed to an out of court settlement.
At the time of suspension, BOC shares were trading at Sh160 each while Carbacid stocks were trading at Sh137 apiece.
Shareholders of the two companies have been lamenting over lost opportunities, particularly during the stock market's boon in 2006 to 2007.
Resolution of the stalemate came months after the regulator gave Centum, a private equity firm, a nod to buy 2.5 million shares or a 23 per cent stake in Carbacid Investment from Alliance Nominees.
Centum acquired the stake through a subsidiary firm Rasimu Limited.
Recently, BOC announced that it had initiated a process of returning share certificates it acquired from shareholders of Carbacid.
This was expected to last a week.
"We will be looking for other options to utilise funds we had set aside for Carbacid," said Mr John Kariuki, BOC Kenya managing director about the process.
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