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Ex-sacco regulator rises to top Co-op Bank ownership

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Mr Fredrick Odhiambo. file photo | nmg

Former commissioner for co-operatives Fredrick Fanuel Odhiambo has risen to Co-op Bank’s #ticker:COOP list of top local individual investors with a stake worth Sh75 million, benefiting from the lender’s long-term share price rally.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm disclosed in regulatory filings that Mr Odhiambo held 4.6 million shares equivalent to a 0.08 per cent stake as of September.

While Mr Odhiambo has always maintained his ownership at 0.08 per cent since the bank went public in 2008, his number of shares has grown thanks to the issuance of more stock including bonus shares.

Co-op’s issued shares have increased 1.7 times to 5.8 billion from 3.4 billion after the 2008 initial public offering, matching the rate at which Mr Odhiambo’s holding has grown from 2.7 million units over the same period.

His do-nothing strategy has lifted him to the seventh position in the list of local individual investors that is dominated by billionaires and the bank’s directors.

READ: Billionaire Baloobhai raises Co-op Bank stake

Mr Odhiambo, who has had close ties with Co-op Bank as a non-executive director and through his links in the co-operative movement, declined to comment on this story.

He served as a board member of the bank in his capacity as the commissioner for co-operatives development, a role he held for eight years until 2013.

He has also held senior roles in co-operative institutions including directorships at the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives – the umbrella body of the savings and credit societies and the Coffee Board of Kenya.

Co-op Bank was itself initially registered under the Co-operative Societies Act in 1965. It was later incorporated under the Companies Act as it prepared to list on the NSE.

Shares previously held by the 3,805 co-operative societies and unions were consolidated under Co-opHoldings Co-operative Society, which has a 64.5 per cent stake in the lender.