Category Archives: Coca Cola

Coca-Cola in Kenya 2017

Last night, Coke Studio Africa, the musical show from Coca-Cola had performances by Bebe Cool of Uganda and Falz the Bad Guy of Nigeria. They were amazing performances by top performers and I was fortunate to be at the earlier taping of the show. The production was very impressive to see live, the crowd at the taping was enthralled and it would not be a surprise if the two stars continue to perform together for many years after their first meeting in Nairobi. Coke Studio Africa, now in showing its 2017 edition, has done a lot to introduce musicians from different parts of Africa to new audiences in other parts of the continent – and the rest of the world through the Coke Studio Africa show clips which are available on YouTube and the new songs from each of the seasons that can be downloaded on a Coke Studio Africa app.

Bebe & Falz: Image from Coke Studio Africa

Besides the filming and production of Coke Studio Africa in Nairobi, Coca-Cola has had a busy year in Kenya. In the last few weeks, despite the Kenya election which usually sees a slowdown in corporate activities, they have had two major product launches – one for Minute Maid Pulpy Orange, and another for Coca-Cola Zero Sugar (formerly Coke Zero) which is now available in a wider variety of bottles.

At the same time, the acquisition of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa Proprietary (CCBA) by Coca-Cola was completed – for continues production of Keringet bottled water brand at Molo. CCBA  also bought out Equator Bottlers at Kisumu, the third largest Coca-Cola bottler in Kenya which supplies products in the Western Kenya.

At the same time Centum Investments which owns 27% of Nairobi bottlers, and 53.9% of Almasi Beverages – both bottlers of Coca-Cola products, also moved to increase their stake in Almasi by offering other shareholders Kshs 7 per share. Almasi had Kshs 7.8 billion of sales in 2016, and a pre-tax profit of Kshs 1.05 billion. Alamasi, the second largest bottler in Kenya behind Nairobi bottlers, and according to Centum – accounts for 28% of the volumes sold in 2016, which puts Coca-Cola sales in the country at  ~Kshs 28 billion.

Reading the Tea leaves at Centum, Kenya Airways, Safaricom – Part III

Following up from last year, three companies that had their year-end in March 2017 – Centum, Kenya Airways, and Safaricom have just published their annual reports. Later this month, they will all have shareholders annual general meetings – Safaricom’s will be on September 15, Kenya Airways, who already had an EGM will have their AGM on 22 September, while Centum’s will be on September 25th at Two Rivers, Nairobi.

Notes from the annual reports.

Centum:

  • Has a massive 234-page annual report (up from 192 pages), and the company has 37,163 (last year 37,325) shareholders. 44 shareholders have more than 1 million shares.
  • Board changes at the AGM: New chairman Donald Kaberuka will meet shareholders, and this year Henry Njoroge Imtiaz Khan and Dr. James McFie all step down from the board.
  • Shareholders will also be asked to approve the incorporation of ten Ramani Arch companies as Vipingo subsidiaries, Rehati Holdings, Zahanati Holdings Greenblade Growers, and a Greenblade EPZ.
  • Centum will pay shareholders Kshs 1.2 per share dividend (up from 1.0 last year)
  • Had 86 billion assets. Profit was Kshs 1.5 billion for the year then added with other gains from value changes, this reached Kshs 6.1 billion.
  • Their auditors, PWC, flagged issues like loan impairment at Sidian, loans at Chase Bank, the value of unquoted assets, the value of goodwill, and the value of investment properties.

    Centum shareholders to meet at Two Rivers.

  • Centum has 35 billion worth of subsidiaries including Two Rivers Development (50% of lifestyle centre and 100% of water, ICT, apartments, and phase 2) , GenAfrica Asset Managers (73%), Almasi Beverages (52% of Investment holding company for Mount Kenya Bottlers, Kisii Bottlers and Rift Valley Bottlers), Bakki Holdco (Sidian Bank) and Vipingo Estates
    Associates: Centum sold off their entire 26.4% of KWAL (for Kshs 1.1 billion) while at Longhorn they raised their stake to 60%.
  • Unquoted investments include General Motors East Africa (GMEA – estimated Kshs 3 billion worth), Nas Servair (estimated Kshs 765 million) and Nabo. NAS, where they own 15% opened three Burger King restaurant franchise outlets in Kenya. Centum still owns 17.8% of GMEA after Isuzu bought a majority 57% stake from GM. They also own 25% of Platinum Credit that provides loans to civil servants and has 80,000 customers.
  • Their Lulu Field acquired 14,000 acres in Masindi Uganda for agriculture.
  • They own  27.6% of Nairobi Bottlers which accounts for 47% of the Coca Cola sold in Kenya.
  • In energy, they own 37% of Akira geothermal and 51% of Amu Power.
  • Managers earn more from performance bonuses than salaries.
  • They have borrowed Kshs 1.4 billion from Coca Cola Exports (for Almasi to buy crates and bottles), 3.1 billion from First Rand, Kshs 982 million from Cooperative Bank (for working capital), Kshs 573 million from Chase Bank (for infrastructure at Two Rivers and vehicles for Longhorn), and Kshs 440 million from KCB (for machinery at Mt. Kenya Bottlers)
  • They are owed Kshs 12 billion by related parties including 1.1 billion by Two Rivers Development, 3.1 billion by Centum Exotics, 3.3 billion from Centum development, 1.3 billion by Mvuke (Akira geothermal), 672 million at Vipingo Development and 533 million from Investpool Holdings.

Kenya Airways 

  • The report is 172 pages (up from 149 pages) and KQ has 79,753 shareholders (up from 78,577).
  • Going Concern: While their auditors KPMG have a material matter about KQ’s uncertainty as a going concern, the Directors have prepared the consolidated and company financial statements on a going concern basis since they are confident that the plans described above provide a reasonable expectation that the Group and Company will be able to meet their liabilities as and when they fall due and will have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The Directors believe the plans above will improve the Group and Company’s profitability, cash flows and liquidity position. 
  • Sebastian Mikosz takes over as Group Managing Director & CEO, replacing Mbuvi Ngunze.
  • Tax treatment: the accumulated tax loss of Kshs 71 billion of Kenya Airways and Kshs 782 million of JamboJet will be carried forward for ten years and used to offset future taxable profits.
  • The fleet in 2017 had 39 aircraft down from 47. The board approved the sale of 6 aircraft, and 5 have since bene sold. Also, two Embraer 170’s were returned early to the lease owners while three Boeing 777-300 were leased for four years by KQ to Turkish Airlines with another two Boeing 787-800 leased to Oman Air for three years.
  • Borrowings Barclays Bank PLC – Aircraft loans 325 million at 4.87%, Citi/JP Morgan – Aircraft loans Kshs 71,649 million at 1.89%, African Export – Import Bank (Afrexim) – Aircraft Loans Kshs  21,050 million at 4.82%, and short-term facilities of 24,776 million at 8.58%, and Government of Kenya  24,540 million at 8.58%. The short term facilities were drawn down from Equity Bank, Jamii Bora Bank, Kenya Commercial Bank, Commercial Bank of Africa, I & M Bank, Chase bank, National Bank of Kenya, Diamond Trust Bank, Co-operative Bank, NIC bank and Ecobank for the financing of pre-delivery payments for ordered aircraft.
  • On Time Performance (“OTP”):  The top delays contributors were:1) Aircraft serviceability and availability;2) ATC restrictions and weather;3) Passenger and ramp handling;4) Crew shortage; and5) Connectivity due to new schedules with more efficient use of aircraft.
  • 13 incidents related to disruptive passengers/inappropriate behaviour were reported in 2016/17 financial year compared to 21 incidents reported in the prior year.
  • A total of 70 bird strikes were reported during the period under review compared to 63 cases in the prior year. Most of the reported bird strikes caused minimal damage to our aircraft, but several resulted in costly maintenance, parts replacement, and operational delays. These include two reported air turn back incidents and two rejected take-offs due to bird strikes.

Safaricom

  • The report is 144 pages (down from 172) and the company has 582,775 shareholders (down 600,000 shareholders last year and 660,000 the year before that).
  • At the AGM, shareholders will approve payment of a dividend of Kshs 0.97 per share (out of EPS of 1.21) – for a total dividend payout of almost Kshs 39 billion. Last year they paid Kshs 57 billion in dividends (35% of which went to the government to whom they also paid Kshs 84.3 billion in taxes and other fees).
  • Shareholders will approve a name change to Safaricom PLC. Also, they will vote on special board change resolutions following the Vodacom Vodafone deal; these  will mandate that the Chairman and all independent directors of Safaricom be Kenyan citizens, and also to require that a super-majority of the board (75% of directors) vote to approve changes to the business plans, appointments of the managing director and chief financial officer, and branding of the company – which previously Vodafone had a direct veto over.
  • Balance sheet of Kshs 108 billion down from 117 billion.
  • Bonga points (a loyalty scheme) now total  Kshs 3.3 billion (up from 3.2 billion) are a liability to be converted to revenue as customers utilize their points.
  • Safaricom also has deferred revenue of Kshs 3.4 billion from unused airtime and bundles (up from 2.7 billion) which include Kshs 243 million of managed services under the police contract.
  • For, the National Police Service communication project an amount of KShs7.5 billion was received during the year and the outstanding balance at the year-end was KShs4.47 billion.
  • The Group has short-term borrowing facilities with Commercial Bank of Africa, Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank of Africa.
  • Safaricom has an active ESOP: 13.7 million shares historically valued at KShs193.2 million (2016: 30.4 million shares valued at KShs375.12 million) vested and were exercised by eligible staff.
  • Risks: their auditors, PWC, flagged  issues such as accuracy of revenue recognition, while
    Safaricom itself considers business risks including terror and cyber attacks, competition  (from companies like WhatsApp), the regulatory environment and weakened economic growth.
  • They have an Insider trading policy. Directors and staff are made aware that they ought not to trade in the company’s shares while in possession of any material insider information that is not available to the public or during a closed period.
  • Subsidiaries are One Communications, Instaconnect, Packet Stream Data Networks, Safaricom Money Transfer Services, East Africa Tower Company, IGO Wireless, Flexible Bandwidth Services, Comtec Training and Management Services, and Comtec Integration Systems – all 100& owned, while The East African Marines Systems Limited (TEAMS) is an associate company where they own 32.5%.
  • New products and innovations include Blaze, Flex and M-Pesa Kadogo under which they waived all charges for m-pesa transactions smaller than Kshs 100 ($1). 
  • Besides partnerships such as M-TIBA, Eneza and M-KOPA, they had others with women in technology, Little Cabs, athletics and music. Also, the Safaricom Spark Fund invested in six companies – Sendy, mSurvey, Eneza, Lynk, FarmDrive, and iProcure.
  • The company donated Kshs 381 million to the Safaricom foundation.
  • Twaweza – when we come together, great things happen– is the next phase of the Safaricom brand.

M&A Moment: July 2017

Various recent deals in the last few weeks and months in East Africa – compared to 2016 and 2015

Banking and Finance: Finance, Law, & Insurance

  • Commercial Bank of Africa (Kenya) is acquiring 100% of Crane Bank Rwanda from DFCU of Uganda
  • Direct Pay Online Group acquired 100% of Virtual Card Service in Botswana and Namibia. This will be followed by the acquisition of 100% of VCS business in South Africa (via Balancing Act Africa)
  • Chase Bank suitors announced by the Business Daily – are led by Societe General, and State Bank of Mauritius (who have also just completed the acquisition of Fidelity Bank)
  • Barclays PLC sold 22% of Barclays Africa
  • KCB was linked to another bid for NBK, although the CMA denied any knowledge of such a deal.
  • Kuramo Capital, the largest shareholder of Transcentury is acquiring 25% of Sterling Capital stockbrokers, the second largest bond trader in the country
  • Diamond Trust to acquire Habib Bank Kenya for shares worth Kshs 1.82 billion (~$18 million). EDIT At the end of July, the Competition Authority approved the deal on condition that Diamond Trust retains at least 41 employees of Habib Bank post-transaction and the Central Bank communicated that the deal would be concluded on 1st August when Habib would cease to exist as a licensed bank.
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the proposed acquisition of a minority stake of 10.68% of I&M Holdings by CDC Group PLC together with certain veto rights.
  • I&M Holdings also has announced the successful completion of a merger with Giro Commercial Bank
  • Carlyle to acquire Global Credit Rating Co. (South Africa)
  • Letshego Holdings Limited (Botswana) acquires afb Ghana
  • Atlas Mara to acquire 13.4% equity in United Bank Nigeria, from Clermont Group for $55 million, increasing its stake to 44.5%
  • Sanlam Group has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in PineBridge Investments East Africa Limited. PIEAL is a leading asset management company in East Africa with operations in Kenya and Uganda – and the competition authority approved this at the end of July.
  • EDIT Alexander Forbes Kenya to change name & brand (to Zamara) after a change of shareholding to comply with new pension law that caps foreign ownership to a maximum of 40%.

Beauty & Pharma/Chem

  • The Competition Authority of Kenya authorized the acquisition of Dan Pharmacie by Mimosa Pharmacy.
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya authorized the acquisition of Sole Control of Syngenta AG (Syngenta) by China National Agrochemical Corporation (CNAC).
  • The Authority excludes the proposed acquisition of 72% of the issued share capital of Chemserve Cleaning Services Limited by Eye Level Exposure Limited from Part IV of the Act .. (their) combined turnover of KSh. 138,076,904 is below the required merger threshold for mandatory notification
  • Abraaj Group gets approval to acquire 75% of Healthlink Management (Nairobi Women’s hospital?)
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya has approved the proposed acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital of Monsanto Kenya by Bayer Aktiengesellschar/KWA Investment. Businessman Chris Kirubi revealed that he holds a 45% stake in agrochemical firm Bayer East Africa.
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the proposed acquisition of the shares in the Dow Chemical Company by Dowdupont Inc. and the Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the proposed acquisition of the shares in E. I. Du Pont De Numerous and Company by Dowdupont Inc.
  • A local drug store is set to be acquired for Sh. 2 billion. Imperial Health Sciences, which based along Mombasa Road will be acquired by South African investment firm Mara Delta Property Holdings. “The facility will be leased back to Imperial Health Sciences on a 10-year triple net basis, denominated in US$ and guaranteed by Imperial Holdings Limited.”
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya authorised the acquisition by Kibo Plastic Packaging of a minority (14.02%) shareholding with controlling interest in Blowpast Limited.
  • EDIT Japanese Kansai Plascon Africa has acquired local paint maker Sadolin for Kshs 10 billion.

Food & Beverage

  • Africa’s largest Coca-Cola bottler- Coca-Cola Beverages Africa Proprietary Limited (CCBA) has acquired Equator Bottlers, the third largest Coca-Cola bottler in Kenya. Equator Bottlers, was previously a subsidiary of Kretose Investments Limited owned by the Shah family, has been one of several authorized Coca-Cola Bottlers, which supply products in the Western regions of Kenya. It was established in 1966 and is based in Kisumu. EDIT  At the end of July, the Competition Authority authorized the deal on condition that the merged entity retains at least 2,279 employees post-transaction and that Coca Cola file a compliance report in two years.

  • The Abraaj Group is to acquire 100% of Java House Group from Emerging Capital Partners – the story was first broken at Wallace Kantai’s blog and the deal is said to be worth about $130 million. Java House Group was established in Nairobi in 1999. In 2012, Emerging Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in the Company, with the founder retaining a minority stake. ECP has helped Java House grow from 13 shops in Nairobi into East Africa’s largest casual dining brand, building an ‘eat-out’ culture. Today, it has an unrivalled regional footprint of 60 stores across 10 cities in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
  • Catalyst Principal Partners has, through a newly established firm, Britania Foods Limited, acquired the business and operations of Jambo Biscuits Ltd, being a leading biscuits manufacturer in Kenya with its flagship “Britania” brand.
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya authorized the acquisition of assets of Wanainchi Marine Products (Kenya) by One Holdings.
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya authorized the acquisition of Sosco Fishing Industries by One Holdings.
  • Distell, Africa’s leading producer of spirits, wines, ciders and ready-to-drinks (RTDs) continues to ramp up its investment on the African continent, with the acquisition of a further 26.43% in KWA Holding East Africa Limited (KWAL), Kenya’s foremost spirits manufacturer and distributor, from Centum Investment Company Limited. The African liquor giant now owns a majority shareholding of 52.43% in KWAL, having previously acquired a 26% stake from Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) in 2014.
  • Netherlands-based private equity firm DOB Equity announced that in which in December 2016 that it had acquired a stake in Kenya’s Countryside Dairy, a Nyahururu-based facility with a processing capacity of 100,000 litres of milk per day.
  • Amethis and Metier to acquire East African FMCG firm, Kenafric Industries.. Two private equity funds have bought a 40% minority stake in Kenafric Industries as the firm eyes regional growth…popular products under the confectionery and culinary segments include Fresh brand of chewing gum and Oyo food additive. It also manufactures snacks and ready-to-drink juices at its plant in Nairobi’s Baba Dogo. The business, started 30 years ago by Velji Punja Shah and his four sons, is looking to increase its coverage of other East African countries, saying it currently sells 45% of its products outside Kenya.  
  • EDIT: The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorised the proposed acquisition of indirect control of Weetabix East Africa by Post Holdings through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Westminster Acquisition.
  • EDIT:  Twiga Foods, the Kenyan business-to-business food supply platform announced today that it has successfully raised a Series A funding round including $6.3 million in equity and $4 million in debt instruments.
    • The round was led by Wamda Capital and includes Omidyar Network, DOB Equity, Uqalo, 1776, Blue Haven Initiative, Alpha Mundi, and AHL.
    • Today, Twiga is the largest distributor of several basic food staples in Kenya, having sold over 55 million bananas alone and delivering over 4,000 orders a week.
    • Additional to the Series A round closing, Twiga closed some $2 million in grant funding from USAID, GSMA, and others to support bolt-on farmer services, financial inclusion, and first of their kind domestic food safety initiatives.

Hotels/Tourism

  • Simba Corporation acquired a 35% minority stake in Hemingways Holdings and plans to grow from its current three properties: the Olare Mara and Villa Rosa managed by world leading hoteliers, Kempinski, and Acacia Premier Kisumu, as Hemingways is the parent company of three iconic properties that represent the definitive portfolio of luxury travel in Kenya: Hemingways Watamu, Ol Seki Hemingways Mara and Hemingways Nairobi. The transaction also includes Express Travel Group, a subsidiary of Hemingways that provides comprehensive and high quality travel management services through its international franchise partnerships with American Express Global Business Travel and Europcar International as well as through Hemingways Expeditions, a premium Destination Management Company. EDIT: The competition authority approved the deal at the end of July.
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya authorized the proposed acquisition of control of Abercrombie & Kent Kenya (Abercrombie) by Yan Zhao Global, from A&K Cayman L.P and other minority shareholders
  • Thomas Cook India acquired Kuoni Travel specialists in 17 countries (includes Private Safaris E.A. in Kenya)
  • Accor Hotels will relaunch Tune hotel under the ibis Styles brand.
  • Older hotels – 680 and Boulevard, two older iconic Nairobi hotels have been recently bought by the Deputy President, William S. Ruto.

Logistics, Engineering, & Agri-Biz

  • Isuzu will become a 57.7% shareholder in Isuzu East Africa through the purchase of General Motors’ shareholding in the business. The other shareholders will remain as Kenya’s Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (20%), Centum Investments (17.8%) and Itochu Corporation (4.5 %). EDIT: At the end of July, the Competition Authority of Kenya authorised the deal on condition that the merged entity absorbs all 383 GMEA employees, continues after-sales service of all the vehicle brands, Isuzu and Chevrolet sold and leased by GMEA for duration of all the after-sales service contracts, honours all existing dealership agreements between GMEA and its dealers, and communicates to all GMEA customers on the continuation of after-sales service.
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya authorized the proposed subscription for 24.99% shareholding in Trans-Century with 100% of the redeemable preference shares in TC Mauritius Holdings by Kuramo Africa Opportunity Kenyan Vehicle.
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya authorized the transfer of 50% of the issued shares in Safal Building Systems to Mabati Rolling Mills.
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the proposed acquisition of 100% of Kenya Kazi by Gardaworld
  • Rift Valley Railways (RVR), the company that runs the century-old Kenya-Uganda railway, has moved to court in a last-minute effort to stop the concession manager, Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC), from terminating its 25-year contract.
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the proposed acquisition of Reunert Limited of 75.39% of the ordinary shares in Metal Fabricators of Zambia PLC.
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the proposed acquisition of 40.7% of the ordinary shares and control of ARM Cement Limited by CDC Africa Cement.
  • Crown Paints to buy back 15% of its stock, the first company to do this.. now allowed by Kenya’s new companies law.
  • EDIT Athi River Mining is selling its Mavuno Fertilizer subsidiary to Omya and Pinner Heights to focus on its cement business.

Oil/Energy

  • German-based solar electrification firm Mobisol has acquired pay-as-you-go off-grid (PAYG) solar industry software firm Lumeter.
  • Hass Petroleum sold a 40% stake to Oman Trading International to fund growth in Eastern Africa
  • Tullow Oil plc sold stakes in Uganda to Total Oil for $900M, and will retain 10% of that and of a $3.5 billion pipeline through Tanzania
  • Vitol Africa gets approval to acquire 19.91% of Vivo Energy from Shell Overseas Investments
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the proposed acquisition of indirect control in Dalbit Petroleum by Humphrey Kariuki Ndegwa.
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the proposed acquisition of the retail petroleum business of Hashi Energy by Lake Oil
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the proposed acquisition of the retail petroleum business of Hashi Energy Limited by Lake Oil Limited
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the proposed acquisition of 100% of Gulf African Petroleum Corporation by Total Outre-Mer S. A. on condition that Total Outre-Mer S. A. comply with the following hospitality and employment conditions— including All agreements remain in force with relation to the Mombasa Terminal; and the merging parties are limited in the termination of employees of Gulf African Petroleum.
  • PIC South Africa will take up all shares not taken up in the Kengen Kshs 4.4 billion on offer. The South African government employees pension giant with $133 billion of assets will take up 351.2 million new shares at Kshs 6.55 each (totaling Kshs 2.30 billion) as other shareholders get diluted by 5.33% each e.g. The Kenya Government which was a 74% shareholder before, will have 70% afterwards.

Real Estate & Supermarkets

  • The Competition Authority of Kenya authorized the proposed joint venture between Helios Investment Partners and certain shareholders of Acorn Group.
  • Cytonn Investments Management (Kenya) to acquire a $10 million stake in Superior Homes.
  • Konza Tech City is seeking investors to apply for land to build campuses, BPO’s, offices, hotels, and student housing etc.
  • China Wu Yi acquires Sh530m Kilifi land.
  • In April last year, Mara bought a 45.5% stake in Naivasha-based Buffalo Mall for Sh. 440 million. Mara has valued its investment in Buffalo Mall at $6 million (Sh. 603 million), implying a capital gain of Sh. 163 million in less than a year. The mall now brings in 2% of the multinational’s total revenues and represents 2% of its assets. The property is however yet to make a profit, with the six months ended December showing a pre-tax loss of Sh.2.8 million.
  • EDIT  Uchumi expects to conclude a deal with an investor that is worth Kshs 3.5 billion of new shares.

Telecommunications, Media & Publishing

  • Vodafone sold a 35% stake in Safaricom to South Africa’s Vodacom (link)
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the proposed acquisition of certain passive infrastructure of East Africa Towers by Kenya Towers.
  • Catalyst Principal Partners has acquired a significant minority interest in Kensta Group, a 52-year-old East African printing and packaging company Kensta Group manages a diverse set of companies within East Africa namely Transpaper (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda), Express Automation (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda), Vivid Printing Equipment, Fusion Inks, Zenith Rubber Rollers and Phiramid (Zambia).
  • Kenyan IT multinational Craft Silicon has acquired a Sh51.5 million minority stake in restaurants listing portal EatOut, marking its second major backing of a local tech company. Craft Silicon is a founder-shareholder of Little, which is also backed by local telco giant Safaricom. (via Business Daily)
  • Deal undone: Ghafla Kenya CEO Samuel Majani spoke about how a Ghafla merger with Ringier unraveled and on a lot of the intricacies of the issues such as exclusivity, assets & liabilities, dealing with partners & other shareholders, and on merging staff, customers & systems.
  • Deal undone: a Merger with JamboPay was unstuck after a court finding, and the founder of JamboPay, the firm that supplies Nairobi County’s e-payments platform, won a protracted battle against a rival firm over use of its trade name.
  • Mara Social Media acquired global Instant Messaging & communications platform “Nimbuzz” which has over 200 million users and is available for Android, iPhone, and Symbian, MIDP, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and PC & MAC clients
  • Film Studios has been acquired by MoSound
  • MTN is to acquire MultiChoice Africa – owners of @DSTV & GoTV
  • EDIT The Competition Authority authorised the proposed acquisition of fibre optic cable from Bandwith  & Cloud Services Group by Safaricom.
  • EDIT Safaricom’s $1 million Safaricom Spark Venture Fund announced its sixth and final investment in agri-tech startup iProcure – which seeks to increase agricultural output in Kenya, which has remained comparatively low to other countries due to challenges including access to and use of quality inputs. Other invests include FarmDrive, Sendy, and mSurvey.
  • EDIT IFC invests Sh619m ($6 million) in mobile tech firm Africa’s Talking with the funds earmarked for the company’s expansion in Africa beyond the current seven markets where it has a presence.

Other

  • The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the acquisition of Section Investment by Kisima Management.
  • The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the proposed acquisition of 43.8% of Kinetic Holdings by Catalyst Kinetic Investments.

$1 = Kshs 103

Understanding Coke Studio Africa

Season 4 of Coke Studio Africa started showing on TV in Kenya last month. This is the first time I’ve really paid attention to it, and for the first time I can say,  I now understand what the show is about – which is to showcase African music and artistes to new fans across the continent.

The shows were shot in Nairobi and had artistes are flying in from all across Africa. Season 4 will be another massive production in terms of logistics, music production, digital, and television broadcast – that features 38 artistes from 11 countries. I did not know a single musician from Mozambique but, representing Lusophone Africa, there are two this season – with fabulous females in Neyma and Lizha James. Also, DJ’s in Kenya have been playing a funny-sounding song that has a line that rhymes like “why chew kucha” (why chew your fingernails”?) – but the song is actually “Atchu Tchutcha” by Mozambican Angolan singer, Yuri da Cunha who’s also featured this season.

The artistes are invited and scheduled, paired and flown in to meet in Nairobi, chat with each other, and try each other’s foods to build bonds. They learn each other’s music, pick songs they like and sing versions of them, mixing languages and musical styles. Modern music has some powerful performance when people sing each other’s songs and many musicians have their largest hits from collaborating with other artistes – Whitney Houston (& Dolly Parton), Nelly & Kelly, Puff Daddy (& Sting), Sinead O’Connor (& Prince), Jay-Z & Linkin Park, Eminem & Dido, Santana & Rob Thomas, Wyclef & Shakira, etc. The Coke Studio sessions are done in a mix of other events that happen around the presence of particular artistes in Nairobi. Other local teams work around the artistes pairings and locations doing live bands, back up singers, filming, recording, wardrobe & makeup, media teams, digital teams etc. Local sponsors this year are Kenya Airways who get to showcase their regional route network (flights to 40 African cities), Samsung,  General Motors who’s Chevrolet Blazers zip the artistes across town and Sarova hotels.

The shows are shown in different parts of Africa on DStv and local broadcasters so different regions get kansoul-lizhadifferent shows in five languages (English, Amharic, French, Kiswahili, and Portuguese.) with emphasis on music that appeals to a region.

Last week’s show in Kenya featured Lizha James and “The Kansoul” (i.e. Mejja, Madtraxx, KidKora) and was probably one of the best ones so far. Other Kenyan artistes featured this season are Jaguar, Sauti Sol, Nyashinski, and Bahati.

Most of the song clips will be available on YouTube and this year there’s also an app (at the Google store) that fans can use to download and watch all the songs and video from Season 4 as well as from two past seasons of the show.

Almasi Gets Juicy

A year after Centum took control of K-Rep Bank, Almasi Beverages and Genesis Kenya, they are now seeking more shares of Almasi.

In December, they were reported to have made an offer of Kshs 6 per share to minority shareholders of Almasi, a sum that they term as a 20% premium to when the company was formed in 2013. Payment will be within 10 days of the closing date f the offer to shareholders who accept and provide original share certificates.

This came after Centum shareholders had ratified the acquisition of an additional shareholding of  3% in Almasi (for Kshs 182 million) – resulting in Almasi Beverages becoming a subsidiary in which Centum holds an aggregate of 50.95% of the issued share capital.

$1 = Kshs 102.