The number of companies listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange could reduce by one following a notification on December 1, by BOC Gases of its intention to acquire effective control (80%) of Carbacid Investments. BOC already controls 42% of the Carbacid through proxies, and will use a novel technique to finance the deal. BOC has reported six-month turnover of 454 million while Carbacid had 134 million for the half-year. On Friday there was no activity in both BOC and Carbacid shares which remained at 160 and 137 respectively.

EDIT: In November 2020, in a reversal of sort, Carbacid acting in conjunction with Aksaya Investments, has made an offer to buy out 100% of BOC Gases. Aksaya is an investment company of Baloobhai Chhotabhai Patel and Amarjeet Patel that owns 40% of Carbacid.

BOC Holdings which owns 65% of BOC Kenya has accepted the offer with a stop date of July 2021 and one condition is that there is no reduction greater than 15% in the value of  BOC. Yesterday, Carbacid traded at Kshs 9 per share while BOC closed at Kshs 66 per share.

Also:

• BOC owns 5% of Carbacid and had 3,000 shareholders.
• Carbacid will pay Kshs 1.24 billion (±$11.3 million) in cash for BOC  
• BOC Holdings which owns 63% of BOC Kenya has accepted the deal