Top TransCentury investors offload 13.1 million shares
Mr Zephania Mbugua, TransCentury chairman. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
All TransCentury’s founders have offloaded a part or all of their shares in the investment firm since its listing on the Nairobi Securities Exchange through introduction.
Founders of the NSE-listed infrastructure investment company TransCentury have further loosened their grip on the firm, where they have offloaded 13.1 million shares in the past eight months currently worth about Sh340 million. Regulatory filings show that six of the company’s top investors including chairman Zephania Mbugua transferred the shares between January and August, when TransCentury’s stock traded at an average of Sh25.9.
This cut the combined stake of the top 10 owners to 47.67 per cent in August, down from 53.56 per cent in December 2013 and 60 per cent prior to the firm’s listing on the Nairobi bourse in July 2011. Other who joined Mr Mbugua in the latest shares trades are former KenGen CEO Eddy Njoroge, and businessmen Peter Kanyago, Jimnah Mbaru, Stephen Waruhiu, and Ephraim Njogu.
Some of the top owners could have used a fraction of their shares to secure bank loans or transferred them to nominee accounts, hence the reduction reflected in the latest regulatory filings.
Shifts in shareholding stakes held by top investors are closely watched by market analysts as a possible indicator of future prospects of listed companies.
Mr Mbugua offloaded three million shares worth about Sh78 million, a move that saw his stake drop from 5.95 per cent in December to 4.74 per cent in August. He however retains his position as the fourth-largest shareholder of the firm after Mr Kanyago who also retained his third position despite trading 2.5 million shares worth about Sh64.7 million.
Mr Njoroge sold 2.6 million shares worth about Sh67.3 million, reducing his stake from 4.54 per cent to 3.51 per cent in the period. He also kept his position as the sixth-biggest-shareholder despite the trades.
Mr Mbaru earned about Sh64.5 million from trading 2.4 million shares, a move that diluted his equity from 4.37 per cent to 3.39 per cent and left him as the seventh largest owner of TransCentury.
Mr Waruhiu traded 1.5 million shares valued at Sh38.8 million, cutting his stake from 4.15 per cent to 3.52 per cent but without changing his position as TransCentury’s eighth largest investor. Mr Njogu offloaded one million shares worth Sh25.9 million in what has diluted his equity stake from 4.94 per cent to 4.47 per cent. He however retained his fifth position on the top owners’ list.
All TransCentury’s founders have offloaded a part or all of their shares in the investment firm since its listing on the Nairobi Securities Exchange through introduction.
The two largest owners –Mrs Anne Gachui and Mr Michael Waweru— however did not participate in the latest share trades. Mrs Gachui –the widow of businessman James Gachui— is the top owner with 21.25 million shares equivalent to a 7.76 per cent stake. The Gachui family’s equity has however dropped from a high of 8.16 per cent in December 2011.
Mr Waweru, a former KRA Commissioner General, is the second-largest shareholder with 21.21 million shares or a 7.74 per cent stake. His ownership has also dropped from a high of 7.76 per cent in December 2011.
The company’s founders were freed to sell all their shares after their two-year lock-up period ended in August last year. The Capital Markets Authority had barred the key shareholders from selling more than half of their stake in the two years as part of conditions attached to the firm’s listing.
Besides the founders, TransCentury’s other large group of owners are local individuals with a 24.6 per cent stake, foreign investors (20 per cent) and local institutions (7.6 per cent), according to the August records.
