Somens to make Sh985 million from AccessKenya sale
Jonathan Somen, AccessKenya MD, will earn Sh518m from the takeover deal. Photo/Diana Ngila
What you need to know:
The Internet service provider said it has received a proposal from Dimension Data Plc for Sh3.05 billion or Sh14 a share, offering the shareholders a 46.5 per cent premium over the Sh9.55 price on Monday.
The family will earn Sh984.5 million from the 70.32 million shares they hold in AccessKenya with the firm’s CEO Jonathan Somen pocketing Sh518 million from his 16.97 per cent stake.
The Somen family will pocket nearly Sh1 billion from the sale of AccessKenya to a British company, taking their total earnings from share sales to Sh2 billion since launching its 2007 IPO.
The Internet service provider said it has received a proposal from Dimension Data Plc for Sh3.05 billion or Sh14 a share, offering the shareholders a 46.5 per cent premium over the Sh9.55 price on Monday.
The family will earn Sh984.5 million from the 70.32 million shares they hold in AccessKenya with the firm’s CEO Jonathan Somen pocketing Sh518 million from his 16.97 per cent stake.
This will be on top of the Sh650 million that the Somens have earned trading in their shares at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and the Sh334 million during the firm’s listing, underling the stock market’s power at creating wealth in an economy that has oscillated between strong growth and slowdown.
The company was listed at the NSE in June 2007 through an IPO that valued the company at Sh1.99 billion—meaning that its value has appreciated 53.2 per cent based on offer price of Sh14 and assuming an investors hasn’t sold since buying the shares during listing.
But the Somens have played the market over the past three years including making share sale when AccessKenya was trading at its peak and buybacks when the counter dipped below the IPO price of Sh10—allowing them to buy cheaply.
“It is right to say the Somens and those who bought the share when it was trading at below Sh5 as key beneficiaries of the share sale,” said an analyst at Kestrel Capital.
Filings with the regulator show that the Somens increased their shareholding to 30.26 per cent in November from 29.6 per cent in December 2011 and 25.3 per cent by mid-2010.
The share buy backs happened in a period when AccessKenya was trading at an average price of Sh5 —opening way for the two brothers Jonathan and David Somen to buy the stock at a bargain.
Jonathan has firmed his grip as the top shareholder of the company, pushing his shareholding to 16.97 per cent from 14.48 per cent in 2010. David, also a director at the firm, increased his ownership to 7.3 per cent from 4.82 per cent. However, their father Michael, who quit as chairman in 2010, maintained his shareholding at 6.02 per cent.
The Sh14 offer price is, however, substantially lower than the stock’s peak price of Sh35 it hit in 2008, which opened way for the family to sell shares worth about Sh650 million.
If the deal comes through, AccessKenya will have to be delisted from the NSE. The planned sale needs the approval of owners with holdings of at least 75 per cent in the Internet firm.
The 100 per cent acquisition will see Dimension Data breach ownership regulations that require telcos to maintain at least 20 per cent local shareholding.
But the company says it will seek exemption similar to the one granted to India’s Bharti Airtel, which owns 95 per cent of Airtel Kenya. If this fails, the UK firm says Jonathan will re-purchase up to 20 per cent of AccessKenya.
“Right now, we are under a heavily regulated process and it is not possible to provide any information until after the shareholders’ circular has been issued,” said Jonathan Tuesday when asked about the re-purchase price.
