Merali firms grip on Sameer with son’s board appointment

Businessman Naushad Merali has appointed his son to the board of tyre manufacturer Sameer Africa, marking a return of the family to the board of the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm.

The company said on Monday it had appointed Sameer Naushad Merali to replace Tom Owuor who died on October 24.

Mr Owuor was a former executive director of the Federation of Kenya Employers.

Mr Merali resigned as chairman and director of Sameer Africa in July 2010 after 25 years, in what the tyre firm said was an attempt to reduce his grip on executive decisions at the company.

The appointment of the younger Merali was disclosed as the company announced an interim dividend of Sh0.25 per share helped by the doubling of its profit to Sh152 million in the nine months to September, from Sh75.8 million in the same period last year.

The dividend is higher than the Sh0.20 the firm paid in the year to December and is a boost to shareholders who have not gained from the recovery of the Nairobi bourse since the share has dropped 21 per cent to Sh3.55 in the past six months.

 “We wish to inform you that Mr Sameer Naushad Merali has been appointed a director of this company with effect from November 22 to fill the casual vacancy created by the death of Mr Owuor,” the firm said in a notice to the NSE.

The new director is seen as the heir of the billionaire businessman whose investment vehicle Sameer Investments Ltd has interests in telecommunications, energy, manufacturing and finance.

Some of the firms associated with Mr Merali, 61, include Airtel, Equatorial Commercial Bank, Kenya Data Networks, Ryce Motors and Sasini. The family has a 57.2 per cent stake in Sameer Africa.

The younger Merali, 36, has in recent years been taking directorship in some of these companies like Kenya Data Networks, Ryce Motors and Sasini — a signal that he is being prepared for bigger roles in corporate Kenya.

He holds a Masters in banking and finance from City University Business School and worked as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch International Bank.

The senior Merali has been slowly reducing his presence in corporate Kenya and divesting mainly from tech companies such as Zain, Swift Global and Kenya Data Networks, convincing many local entrepreneurs that it is time to harvest what they planted in the late 1990s.

The divestiture earned him billions of shillings in capital returns.

For example, the sale of a 15 per cent stake in Zain Kenya last year earned him Sh4 billion.