South African brewer gets two Kwal board seats after buyout
A customer buys wines from a supermarket in Nairobi. Kwal, the producer of drinks such as Kibao Vodka, King Fisher and Hunters Choice, is the sole distributor of Distell products in East Africa. PHOTO | FILE
South African brewing company Distell has secured two directorship positions at the Kenya Wine Agencies (Kwal) in a boardroom shake-up following its buyout of a 26 per cent stake in the company from the State.
Distell has appointed its group managing director Richard Rushton and Africa’s managing director George Schooling to the Kwal board, signalling its intention to play an active role in running the Industrial Area-based alcohol dealer.
Kwal, the producer of drinks such as Kibao Vodka, King Fisher and Hunters Choice, is the sole distributor of Distell products in East Africa.
“The share transaction essentially shifted the company from being a parastatal to a private company and therefore the board needed to look and be run differently,” said Distell’s general manager for North and Eastern Africa Richard Lord in an interview.
Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC), which maintained 46 per cent shares in Kwal after the sale, in February appointed two new directors but maintained its chief executive Peter Kimurwa as its third representative.
Investment firm Centum, which has a 26 per cent shareholding in Kwal, has two representatives on the board —its chief executive James Mworia and industrialist Chris Kirubi. Kwal’s managing director, Edwin Kinyua, completes the eight-member board.
“If you look at the people we have appointed to the board, it cannot get more senior than them. That shows the seriousness with which we are taking the Kwal investment,” said Mr Lord.
Distell purchased the Kwal stake from the Treasury in December in a Sh860 million transaction that is in line with the government’s move to fully privatise the firm.
Distell had in 2012 threatened to end its 14-year partnership with Kwal to manage its own brands locally after feeling it was losing market share due to government failure to support Kwal’s ambitions.
Termination of the partnership would have hit Kwal hard as it heavily relies on bottling and distributing Distell’s products like Viceroy, Amarula, Aperitif, Drostdy-Hof and Cellar Cask-- which contribute about 60 per cent to its sales.
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