Hilton Hotels and the Kenyan government are selling their shares in International Hotels (K) kicking off privatisation of the iconic Hilton Hotel.
- International Hotels (K), incorporated in 1966, owns the iconic Hilton Hotel in Nairobi’s Central Business District.
- Hilton Hotel, which shut down in December 2022, is majority owned by Hilton Hotels while its minority shareholder is the Kenya Government at 40.58%.
- The sale of Hilton’s shareholding is being undertaken by global real estate consultancy and agency Knight Frank.
In a notice, the Privatisation Authority said interested bidders must be willing to acquire the government’s shareholding. The bidders must provide a bid security of Ksh10 million, a reference letter from a bank, tax compliance certificate, and proof of financial capacity.
On Tuesday, a property agency company, Knight and Frank also placed a notice saying its client, Hilton International Limited is seeking interested party to purchase 59.42 per cent shareholding in in International Hotels Kenya Limited.
Knight and Frank said interested parties should submit information indicating experience, track record and financial capability to undertake the acquisition.
The government is also in the process of offloading another 33.83 per cent shareholding in Kenya Hotel Properties Limited (KHL), which owns the property previously managed by the Intercontinental Hotel Group.
The offloading of Hilton’s shareholding in International Hotels comes as the Government plans to sell its stake in five state-owned hotels namely Mt Elgon Lodge, Sunset Hotel, Kabarnet Hotel, Golf Hotel, and Safari Lodges.
Privatisation Moves
In March 2023, the Cabinet in March approved the Privatization Bill 2023, a state-sponsored bill that seeks to sell Govt-owned entities to the private sector without Parliamentary approval. The cabinet approval means the Ministry of Treasury will have the power to sell non-strategic parastatals without legal and policy bottlenecks.
The Government hopes that the new law will allow the private sector to contribute to the economy by owning shares in the entities and reduce the demand for government resources and reliance on government financing by the parastatals.
Late last year, the government invited Kenyans to submit comments on the privatization of eleven state-owned companies including Kenya Pipeline Company, New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (NKCC), Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC), National Oil Cooperation, Kenya Seed Company and the Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB).
Others are Mwea Rice Mills (MRM), Western Kenya Rice Mills, Numerical Machining Complex, Vehicle Manufacturers Limited (KVM), and Rivatex East Africa (REAL).
Kenya’s opposition however moved to the court temporarily halting the process.
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