Revealed: Kenyatta Family’s Multi-Billion Stake After CBA-NIC Merger

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President Uhuru Kenyatta with his mother Mama Ngina Kenyatta. PHOTO: Courtesy

The Kenyatta family has a Ksh6.6 billion stake after new shares of the merged NIC Group and CBA Group started trading at the Nairobi Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

The merged entity, which is now known as NCBA, is now ranked sixth among the 10 banks listed at the Nairobi bourse with a market valuation of Ksh50.3 billion after additional 793.8 million new shares.

According to a report published by Business Daily, the new shares belong to among others, the members of the Kenyatta family and billionaire Naushad Merali.

Naushad Merali. PHOTO: Courtesy

Merali chairs Sameer Group and owned 40 percent of Airtel (formerly KenCell Communications). In February this year, Merali was a victim of con men who mimicked President Uhuru Kenyatta to steal from him Ksh10 million.

With the Ksh6.6 billion stake, the Kenyatta family control about 13.2 percent of the new entity followed by the family of the late Phillip Ndegwa, which has a 11.75 percent stake.

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Former CBK Governor Phillip Ndegwa. PHOTO: Courtesy

Ndegwa, who died in 1996, was a renowned economist and served as the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and Chairman of the Kenyan Revenue Authority. The Ndegwa family operated Africa’s largest dry shipping dock between Cairo and Cape Town when they owned Inchcape Shipping.

Merali will control a 2.9 percent stake (valued at Ksh1.45 billion) in a share swap deal that will see former shareholders of NIC control 47 percent and CBA shareholders control 53 percent of the new entity.

Equity remains the highest-valued bank, with a market capitalisation of Ksh146.9 billion ahead of KCB (Ksh139.7 billion) and Co-op Bank (Ksh73.9 billion).

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CBA-NIC merger was approved in September

CBA has been operational for over 50 years and has invested in both banking and non-banking subsidiaries in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. As of June 30, 2019, CBA had a market share of 5.6 percent.

NIC was established in 1959 as an asset finance company and obtained a commercial banking license from CBK in 1995. It merged with African Mercantile Bank Limited in 1997. It has a presence in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. As of June 30, 2019, NIC had a market share of 4.3 percent.

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