Deal makers set to earn millions from Ruto push on privatisation

Consolidated Bank branch along Koinange Street, Nairobi. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Deal makers including transaction advisors and consultants are set to earn millions in the planned privatisation of State firms.

Several investment bankers and accountancy firms are already smiling all the way to the bank, a spot check by The Standard shows.

Others are scrambling for a piece of the mouthwatering windfall that the planned sale of the State corporations is set to usher.

Internal documents obtained by The Standard reveal that the Privatisation Authority (formerly known Privatisation Commission) has allocated tens of millions of shillings to seek advice from deal makers, resulting in significant financial gains for these firms.

Among the top early beneficiaries include Baker Tilly Consortium, which is set to earn Sh34.1 million for the provision of consultancy services on the privatisation of Agro-Chemical and Food Company.

The contract was signed in April this year and runs till December next year.

The Baker Tilly Consortium had also earlier clinched another lucrative Sh28.3 million deal for the provision of consultancy services on the privatisation of Development Bank of Kenya (DBK), according to information from the authority.

Nairobi-based Standard Investment Bank (SIB) and a consortium are also big winners in the expected boom. They will guide the privatisation of State-owned hotels at a cost of Sh10.8 million.

SIB will offer advice over a period of one year for hotels such as the former Hilton and Intercontinental in the deal signed in September this year.

The SIB Consortium will also take home Sh24 million and another Sh28.8 million for advising the government on sale of DBK and Consolidated Bank of Kenya respectively.

A Genghis Capital Consortium is also among early winners in the sale.

They will take home a sum of Sh5.6 million for consultancy services on the privatisation of Kenya Meat Commission. The one year deal was signed in July this year.

Additionally, Genghis will advise on the privatisation of Kenya Wines Agencies Ltd Wines at a cost of Sh5.6 million. The deal signed in October this year runs for 13 months.

Twelve State-owned corporations are now available for rapid sale to both Kenyan and foreign investors following the assent of President William Ruto to a landmark law that is expected to smooth out the persistent bottlenecks in the disposal of loss-making State entities.