Munga firm in Sh456m Britam share sale deal

An investment vehicle billionaire investors Peter Munga and Jane Njuguna (the wife of Equity Group #ticker:EQTY CEO James Mwangi) own has sold Britam #ticker:BRIT shares currently worth Sh456 million in the eight months ended August.

Regulatory filings show Filimbi Ltd, which the two investors own on a 50:50 basis, reduced its holdings to 18.9 million shares in August from 58.4 million units in December 2017.

This is the second trade by Filimbi, which initially held 90 million shares of Britam and made its first sale in the first half of 2013 when it reduced its ownership by 31.6 million shares that had a market value of Sh260 million at the time.

While Filimbi reduced its stake in Britam, the insurer’s other founding shareholders bought more shares in the company over the same period.

Billionaire investor Jimnah Mbaru, for instance, acquired 30 million shares with a current market value of Sh346.5 million. The share purchase marked a reversal of a series of Britam share sales over the past six years that earned him more than Sh1 billion. Mr Mbaru, who now holds 194.8 million shares in the insurer, had 300 million shares when the insurer went public in 2011.

Britam CEO Benson Wairegi also bought 348,300 shares valued at Sh4 million and marginally boosted his ownership in the firm to 100.7 million shares.

For Mr Munga, the Filimbi transaction marks a continued reduction of his holdings in the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm. The businessman recently signed a deal to sell 348.5 million Britam shares worth Sh4 billion to Zurich-based insurance giant Swiss Re.