Savannah Clinker Limited has withdrawn its competing offer to acquire listed cement manufacturer Bamburi Cement Plc, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) announced on December 4, 2024.
- This development leaves Amsons Industries (K) Limited as the sole bidder for Bamburi Cement, with its KShs. 23.59bn offer.
- Shareholders who had accepted Savannah Clinker’s now-withdrawn offer have until 5:00 pm on December 5, 2024, to reconsider or they will retain their stakes in Bamburi Cement.
- Savannah Clinker, in a statement, said its withdrawal was occasioned by “the recent well-publicised arrest and indictment of the Chairman and main shareholder of SCL.”
To facilitate reconciliation, the trading of Bamburi Cement Plc shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) will be suspended starting 9:00 am on December 6, 2024.
In its statement, Savannah said that the arrest of its chairman and main shareholder Benson Ndeta “led to the financier of the Competing Offer seeking additional due diligence,” and lay the blame on the CMA for refusing to extend the offer period by 60 days to enable it “respond to any queries.”
Ndeta was arrested and charged with eight counts, including involvement in a 4.5bn fraud related to his previous company, the now defunct Savannah Cement.
The Acquisition Tussle That Was
In October, Savannah Clinker hiked its offer for the cement manufacturer from KSh 70 per share to KSh 76.55 per share, while Amsons’ July bid remain unchanged at KSh 65.
Bamburi’s principal shareholders are Fincem Holding Limited and Kencem Holding Limited, each owning 29.30% of the cement maker. Other major shareholders include Standard Chartered Nominees with 15.68%, and Aksaya Investment Holdings Limited with 11.12%.
The tussle between the Amsons Group and Savannah Clinker for Bamburi saw the company’s share price surge to KSh 77.52 at the start of September. The stock price then dipped by 29% later that month after investors locked in the special dividend payout from the sale of a subsidiary in Uganda.
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