Equity’s Munga denies Sh150m shares sale pact with friend
Billionaire businessman and Equity Bank chairman Peter Munga. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA
What you need to know:
Peter Munga wants the High Court to dismiss a suit Joseph Muturi Kamau filed seeking Sh150 million from him.
Mr Munga says he and Mr Kamau never had any contractual agreement with Equity over the sale of three million shares of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)-listed investment company TransCentury.
Billionaire businessman Peter Munga has denied entering into a deal with Equity Bank and long-time friend Joseph Muturi Kamau over the sale of TransCentury shares at Sh150 million.
Mr Munga, who is also the Equity Bank chairman, wants the High Court to dismiss a suit Mr Kamau filed seeking Sh150 million from him.
He says he and Mr Kamau never had any contractual agreement with Equity over the sale of three million shares of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)-listed investment company TransCentury.
Mr Kamau says he had in 2011 agreed to sell his three million TransCentury shares to Mr Munga at Sh50 each to settle a Sh40 million loan taken from Equity.
He says the bank was to deduct the outstanding loan balance of Sh33 million and pay the balance to Bethany Vineyards — Mr Kamau’s company. But Mr Munga now says he and Mr Kamau never had any contract with Equity over the shares and that the agreement between the two of them did not set a purchase price.
He has further denied that a letter he wrote to his friend allegedly confirming his interest to buy the shares was legally binding.
“Mr Munga has no knowledge and does not admit there being any tripartite contractual relationship as pleaded by Mr Kamau. Mr Munga further denies that his letter dated June 20, 2011 had any contractual effect or altered the already entered agreement for sale of the shares,” the Equity Bank chairman says.
Mr Kamau says he is yet to receive the balance of the share sale, which was to see Mr Munga repay his loan with Equity.
Mr Munga, however, says his friend arm-twisted him into paying the Sh33.5 million to Equity Bank.
“The payment was indeed made under duress to avoid the embarrassment set up by Mr Kamau when he pleaded that Mr Munga had in his private dealings compromised his fiduciary duty as a director of Equity Bank,” he adds.
Equity Bank in January lost a bid to be struck off the case when Justice Fred Ochieng ruled that there was still no way to prove whether or not the lender was involved in the alleged fraudulent sale of Mr Kamau’s shares.
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