AccessKenya CEO Jonathan Somen who stands to pocket Sh518 million should his firm be bought out by Dimension Data Plc.

By JEVANS NYABIAGE

Nairobi,Kenya:If the proposed sale of AccessKenya to Dimension Data Plc goes through, the Somen family, the primary founders, would earn nearly Sh1 billion, taking their total earnings from share sales to Sh2 billion since launching their IPO six years ago.

Technology giant Dimension Data Plc has offered to buy the company at Sh14 a share, higher than the Sh9.55 price it closed at on May 6, its last day of trading.

The family is expected to earn Sh984.5 million from the 70.32 million shares they hold in AccessKenya, with the firm’s CEO Jonathan Somen pocketing Sh518 million from his 16.97 per cent stake.

His brother, David Somen, will pocket Sh213.6 million if the takeover bid is successful, while their father, Michael Lewis Somen, who quit as chairman in 2010 and has a 6 per cent stake, will get Sh183 million.

This will be on top of the estimated Sh650 million that the Somens have earned trading their shares at the NSE, and the Sh800 million they made during the firm’s IPO.

The Somens have played the market over the past three years, making share sales when AccessKenya was trading at its peak and buybacks when the counter dipped below the IPO price of Sh10 — allowing them to get more shares cheaply.

When the company was listed at the NSE in June 2007, it was valued at Sh1.99 billion — meaning that it has appreciated 53.2 per cent based on the current offer price.

The Dimension Data offer price, however, is substantially lower than the stock’s peak price of Sh35, which it hit in 2008 and paved the way for the family to sell shares worth about Sh650 million.

The Somen family established Communications Solutions Ltd (Commsol) in 1995 before relaunching it as AccessKenya in 2000 to target the business opportunities emerging in the corporate industry in Kenya.

If the deal succeeds, AccessKenya will be delisted from the NSE. The planned sale must be approved by owners with holdings of at least 75 per cent in the firm.


 

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