The board of Flame Tree Group, an African manufacturing group with operations in Mauritius, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Mozambique, has approved a plan by the firm to list its entire issued share capital on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
The listing on the bourse’s Growth Enterprise Market Segment (Gems), to be done through introduction, has been earmarked for next month. The meeting also saw two new non-executive directors – George Theobald and Frank Ireri – take their seats on the board.
Theobald, who is Managing Director of the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange-listed Tatepa Group, has been appointed as chairman of the board.
He described the approval as a ground-breaking step for Flame Tree Group and important for Kenya as this would be the first manufacturing company to list on the Gems market. “As a board we’re confident that the company is ready for this step and that this will improve its ability to access funds,” he added.
Growth Enterprise Market Segment enables small and medium-sized firms to raise substantial initial and ongoing capital, while benefiting from increased profile and liquidity within a regulatory environment designed specifically to meet their needs.
Flame Tree Group was founded in 1989. It manufactures and distributes plastic tanks and packaging for construction under the Roto brand. It also has a number of wholly-owned fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) subsidiaries.
Retail outlets
These include cosmetics products, which are sold under the Zoe brand in leading retail outlets like Nakumatt, Tuskys and Uchumi. Ireri who is also the Managing Director of the NSE-listed Housing Finance, expressed excitement at being involved in the group, noting that the plastics business would benefit from the massive investment in formal housing across Africa.
“The major economies in Eastern Africa are net importers of plastics for construction and Flame Tree Group is well positioned to bring on local production capability.I have no doubt that the FMCG and cosmetics business will continue to expand in light of East Africa’s population growth and increasing urbanisation,” he said. Flame Tree Group CEO Heril Bangeras welcomed Theobald and Ireri to the board.
“They are bringing extensive industry experience to the team. And they buy into our vision to be the leading consumer manufacturing operation in the region,” he noted.The board has now completed the NSE’s Directors’ Induction Programme, as per Gems laws.
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