Companies

Mbaru sells 5.5m shares in Britam

mbaru

Mr Jimnah Mbaru. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Businessman Jimnah Mbaru has sold 5.5 million shares of Britam, #ticker:BRIT cutting his stake in the insurer to a new low of 10.05 per cent.

Mr Mbaru’s trades are disclosed in a circular sent by the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm in relation to the sale of a 10.37 per cent stake to International Finance Corporation (IFC) for Sh3.5 billion.

READ: IFC moves to block top Britam owners from selling stakes

The businessman, who held 200.3 million shares in December 2015, had reduced the holdings to 194.8 million shares by June 2016, according to the disclosure.

Mr Mbaru has earned more than Sh1 billion from the cumulative sale of nearly 100 million shares, having held 300 million shares when the insurer went public in 2011. His latest share sale is valued at Sh56.6 million based on Britam’s current share price.

His remaining stake will be diluted 10.3 per cent alongside those of other major shareholders once IFC is allotted 224.1 million ordinary shares in the upcoming transaction.

Top Britam shareholders have also committed to maintaining a combined stake of at least 20 per cent for at least two years after IFC’s entry as part of the sale terms.

“The key shareholders have also been requested by IFC to enter into a sharer retention deed whose provisions will include that the key shareholders shall retain an aggregate shareholding of 20 per cent in the company for a period of two years after execution of the share retention deed,” reads part of the circular.

Britam director Peter Munga, who currently holds a 40.2 per cent stake in the company, intends to sell nearly half of that equity by July next year. Mr Munga, who previously held a 16.9 per cent stake, bought an additional 23.3 per cent equity from the government of Mauritius which had seized the shares from its citizen and former Britam director Dawood Rawat.