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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

TransCentury to acquire stake in Cable Holdings

Business

By Jackson Omondi Okoth | Jun 26, 2014

TransCentury board has approved the acquisition of Aureos East Africa Fund’s entire shareholding in Cable Holdings Kenya Ltd.

In a notice, the board said this would be done through allotment of new shares in the firm to Aureos in exchange for the sale of 5.2 per cent of its shares in Cable Holdings Kenya.

The deal requires TransCentury to get approvals from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and ratification by the firm’s shareholders at its forthcoming annual general meeting (AGM).

“The purpose of this transaction is to provide Aureos with an opportunity to participate in the significant upside growth that TransCentury presents as an infrastructure company, has more liquid assets and assist in price discovery,” said a notice by Virginia Ndunge-Company Secretary, TransCentury.

TransCentury wants to acquire the shares of Aureos in Cable Holdings, valued at over Sh157 million as per the annual report of 2012. The firm’s share price hit Sh24.50 when the markets closed yesterday, up from an average of Sh15.50 in January this year.

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Cable Holdings is presently a 94.8 per cent-owned subsidiary of TransCentury, and Cable Holdings in turn owns 68.37 per cent of East African Cables that is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

Through Cable Holdings, TransCentury holds 64.36 per cent of the shares in EA Cables. On completion of this transaction, TransCentury will acquire another four per cent of the voting shares in the fir, while Aureos will take up a two per cent stake in TransCentury.

Recently, TransCentury sought shareholder approval to sell off three of its subsidiaries.

In a notice to shareholders, the board has listed a number of transactions that it will require shareholders to ratify.

This includes the disposal of its 34 per cent shareholding in Rift Valley Railways (RVR), held by its Mauritanian subsidiary Safari Rail Company Ltd It sold its shareholding in RVR to Ambience Ventures Ltd for $43.7 million (Sh3.8 billion). This deal was concluded in March 2014.