Category Archives: Kenya economic growth

KPMG on the 2018 Finance Bill Amendments

The President of Kenya signed the Finance Bill 2018 after a stormy debate in Parliament last week that saw chaotic arguments about vote procedure methods used and actual vote counting mainly with regards to VAT on petrol products.

Some of the earlier clauses in the Finance Bill had been highlighted and KPMG, which has done a series of articles,  has provided a further update on aspects of the laws in Kenya and which they termed “..the changes present an unprecedented disruption of the tax regime that will impact the economy and citizenry for years to come.”

Their perspective on the signed Finance Bill implications:

  • Excise duty on services: The President accepted Parliament’s decision to drop a Robin Hood tax of 0.05% on money transfers above Kshs 500,000 (~$5,000). But the shortfall was replaced by an increase in taxes on all telephone and internet data services, fees on mobile money transfers, and all other fees charged by financial institutions which all now go up by 50% – and which KPMG writes may have a negative impact on financial inclusion.
  • A national housing development levy was approved. With the country’s wage bill of Kshs 1.6 trillion, KPMG estimates that government can potentially collect Kshs 48 billion a year (~$480 million) from the levy, (Kshs 24 billion of which will be from employers) – a massive amount when compared to the Kshs 12.8 billion that NSSF – the National Social Security Fund collects in a year. Regulations for the National Housing Development Levy Fund (NHDF) have not been set, other than that the payments are due by the 9th of the following month. For employees who qualify for affordable housing, they can use that to offset housing costs but for those who don’t qualify, they will get a portion of their contributions back after 15 years.
  • Petroleum VAT: KPMG says that a significant portion of the government’s tax targets for 2018/19 was dependent on value-added tax (VAT) on petroleum products and that is why they have been insistent on having this implemented. Sectors that supply exempt services such as passenger transport (PSV’) and agriculture producers are expected to raise their charges to customers as they are unable to claim back the 8% VAT tax.
  • Kerosene, which is used by low-cost households, takes a double hit with the introduction of VAT as well as an anti-adulteration tax of Kshs 18 per litre. Already kerosene now costs more than diesel in some towns around the country.

  • Excise duty on sugar confectionery, while opposed by sugar industry groups, was reinstated in a move similar to other countries that are trying to address lifestyle diseases by introducing taxes on sugar products.
  • The betting industry, whose survival which was at stake, gets a reprieve as the gaming and lotteries taxes, introduced on January 1, were reduced from 35% to 15%. Many of the prominent betting companies had scaled back their advertising and sponsorship and had turned to engage in serious lobbying efforts ever since. Also, an effective 20% tax on winnings has now been introduced. The earlier tax law allowed bettors to claim some deductions if they kept records, but that has been removed altogether.

EABL: Beer, Taxes, Innovations, Tanzania.

EABL released their financial results for their 2018 year to June this week. It was a tale of two halves with flat growth in the first half of the year which coincided with Kenya ’s prolonged electioneering period and which affected sales of its products such as Senator lager, an affordable beer brand.  But the second half of the year (January to June 2018) saw a more business-friendly environment and more money in consumers pockets.

EABL ended the year with 5% revenue growth to Kshs 73.5 billion and the star of the show for the company in 2017 was Tanzania which saw 41% growth, mainly driven by Serengeti Lite beer. Also, special innovations that contributed 22% to the results is one of the best performances in the world. At EABL, Tanzania’ grew to account for 11% of revenue while Kenya’s was 73%, and Uganda was at 16%.  Capital expenditure was Kshs 13 billion, up from the 5 billion the year before and Kshs 7.8 billion was due to the Kisumu plant which is expected to be opened later in 2018. While overall profit before tax for EABL was Kshs 11.7 billion, a decline of 12% from the year, the company will pay out the same Kshs 7.50 per share dividend to shareholders.

The EABL managers spoke of innovating to reach the 1 million consumers who attain the legal drinking age (18) every year in Kenya – and investment in existing brands, and rolling out new brands to win over changing customers tastes. They also made some excise tax savings in Uganda by moving some  Tusker and Guinness production there while in Kenya, EABL’s profit was weighed down by a Kshs 2 billion one-off provision for taxes that significantly reduced their final result. They said a stable tax environment would enable the company to generate more taxes for governments without causing consumers to pay more.  

Also that by doing more local production of beer and spirits at Ruaraka in Nairobi, at Tanzania, Uganda and soon at the new line at Kisumu has allowed them to bring global brands into countries and produce and offer them at local prices. In the 2019 financial year, they will commercialise the Kisumu brewery which will also benefit 15,000 farmers and generate over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs in the production and distribution chain of Senator beer from Kisumu.

Urban Inflation Index July 2018

The running urban inflation Index compares prices of common goods In Nairobi to what they cost one year ago, five years and ten years ago when the index started.
The  July 2018 index comes at a time when there are sensational headlines about quality and counterfeits that was triggered by the drought of 2017 and subsequent importation of foods including sugar late last year.

It has also tricked into crackdowns, indictments, arrests, and parallel investigations by the Police, tax authorities,  parliamentary committees and food safety regulators that has seen queries about tons of goods including sugar, fertilizer, animal feed, building materials, alcoholic spirits, (refilled) LPG gas, auto spares, and sports shoes among other common items – with confiscations at the Mombasa Port, airports like Eldoret and bazaars and shops in Nairobi which have resulted in some demonstrations by business traders.

On to the index.

More expensive

Staple Food: A 2 Kg pack of Unga is Kshs 98 today. Last year, it was at a government-subsidized price of Kshs 90. In 2013 it was 104, and ten years ago, an Unga pack was Kshs 73.

Beer/Entertainment: A bottle of Tusker beer is Kshs 230 at the local pub. Five years ago a beer was 200, and ten years ago a beer was Kshs 130. Just a few months ago, during a tour of Kenya Breweries, the managers said that, based on the recommended retail price of Kshs 140 for a bottle of Tusker, Kshs 84 was tax, Kshs 23 goes to the distribution chain and just Kshs 33 was for them as a company to produce the beer at profit and to pay its shareholders.

Domestic electricity pricing over ten years of the inflation index.

Electricity: A chart of domestic prepaid electricity purchases shows that electricity was at its lowest in May 2015, and its highest in July 2015 and now in July 2018. One observation is that pre-paid power purchases no longer fluctuate. At the beginning of the month, one used to get 40 or even 50 units for Kshs 500 ($5), but now that amount only realizes 22 units and the pre-paid meters issue a (low-token )beep warning the whole month – and power tokens seems to exhaust a lot faster (because the units are less initially)

Other Food Item: Mumias, which used to be part of the index, was Kenya’s sugar industry bellwether – a diversified company that also produced ethanol and electricity and whose shares were once offered to the new investors at Kshs 49 per share. but which now trades at less than a shilling (Kshs 0.70) today. But Mumias now has no stocks on supermarket shelves as production was halted due to a lack of cane and long pending bills owed to farmers. A  2 kg pack of Mara, a competing sugar brand, is Kshs 298. A year ago, a bag of Chemelil sugar was 290, and five years ago Mumias sugar was 250, while ten years ago, a Mumias pack cost Kshs 145.

About the same

Fuel: Earlier this month, the ERC raised the price of petrol by 3 shillings – so in Nairobi a litre of petrol now costs Kshs 112.2 (approximately $5 per gallon). Last year a litre of petrol was Kshs 97.1, five years ago it was Kshs 109.52, and ten years ago it was Kshs 101.50 per litre. But from September 1 2018, Value Added Tax (VAT) which is 16% is expected to be added back to the cost of fuel.

Finance: Bank loans are 14.%, and have remained so ever since the introduction of interest capping in 2016. But the law is set to be adjusted this year by the government, in spite of opposition from parliamentarians who had passed the cap law. Also, average bank rates were 17% in July 2013.

Communication: Not much has changed in terms of phone rates over the last few years. At Safaricom which had (March) 2018 revenue of Kshs 224 billion, 40% of that was from voice, 28% from payments (such as M-Pesa), and 16% from data while SMS accounted for 8% of revenue. The cost of making mobile payments went up slightly in this year’s budget with a tweak in the excise tax on money transfers, and a charge on large bank transfers that has since been temporarily suspended by a Court.

Foreign Exchange: 1 US $ equals Kshs 100,75, while a year ago it was Kshs. 103.9. Five years ago it was 87.15 and ten years ago the dollar exchanged at Kshs 67.4. Also ten years ago the Euro was at 101, the Rand 8.9 and the Sterling Pound 125, while today the Euro is at Kshs 117, the Rand at Kshs 7.4 and the Pound at Kshs 133.

Other Energy Source: An LPG gas cylinder at Kenol is Kshs 2,250 this month. A year ago (in March) it was 2,030 and six years ago (2012) it was 3,000.

Less Expensive

Nothing really

Share this inflation index if you agree with the perceptions about what has become more or less expensive over the years.

If it were all left up to you, how would you improve the urban inflation index?

Kenya 2018 Budget Breakdown from Barclays

Barclays Bank has released a detailed budget breakdown of Kenya’s estimates for the year 2018/19. This was at an event for corporate investment banking clients of Barclays with a theme of “demystifying the national budget.” and which came a few days after Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Treasury, Henry Rotich had delivered his budget speech and estimates for the year to the country’s parliament.

The Barclays budget breakdown team featured Samantha Singh a Senior Analyst – Macro Research, Barclays Africa Group, Anthony Mulisa (Regional Treasurer East Africa), Peter Mungai (Head of Tax, Barclays Kenya) and James Agin, (Corporate Investment Banking Director). Anthony Kirui the Barclays Director of Markets said that while other accountants and audits had done budget analysis that mainly looked at the tax implications, the Barclays budget breakdown would focus on macroeconomic issues that affect their clients.

Some Highlights 

Revenue Targets:  The Kenya revenue estimates for 2018/19 are very bold, aiming for Kshs 1.9 trillion of domestic revenue, which is 40% more than last year. This is premised on a projected GDP growth for Kenya this year of 5,8%, but which Barclays expects will be at 5.5%. 

Tax Increases: Some new measure include import duties on iron, steel, oils, excise duties on money transfers sugar, private vehicles, and revised capital gains taxes, withholding taxes and business permit taxes. The Barclays team said that the income tax bill 2018 replaces some 1974 legislation that has not kept pace with time also changes the VAT act, and stamp duty acts.

The budget also moves several items from being zero-rated to be exempt, which means that suppliers are prohibited from claiming refunds and this will result in higher costs of products will be passed on to consumers. Also value added tax (VAT) on fuel products kick in from September 2018, while Kerosene taxes will also go up to match those of petrol.

While the CS mentioned reconsidering the 35% income tax on individuals, he was silent on that of corporations which are now likely to go to 35%, the highest in East Africa. The Barclays team said that Parliament needs to critically look at this, as the average corporate income tax rate across Africa is at 28%, while globally it is 25%. Also, the modalities of a new 0.05% excise duty on financial transfers of more than Kshs 500,000 ($5,000) need to be clarified.

Managing Deficits: Kenya’s deficits have been widening and this is due to lower revenues and higher expenditure, especially of recurrent items. Still, the government targets to reduce the fiscal deficit from 7.2% to 5.7% of GDP. The fiscal deficit is about Kshs 600 billion for 2018-19 is quite large; which the government plans to finance it with a mix of domestic and external finance, but Singh said it will be more difficult for Kenya and other African economies to get Euro Bonds as US interest rates are rising.

She said debt was not necessarily bad, but it was more about where the money went, which should be towards development, but not for recurrent expenditure or to defend currencies. The team was also concerned about recurrent expenditure which makes up 16% of GDP and 60% of the budget while development expenditure is 25% of the budget.

Barclays expect foreign exchange reserves to remain adequate but that with an IMF facility ending in September, Singh said that international investors would want to see Kenya affiliated with IMF and have some standby assistance (even though the IMF is not popular), or it will be hard for them to continue to finance the fiscal deficit.

Debt & Development: The Barclays team was concerned that 4 out of every 10 shillings raised this year will go to pay for debt, and they were also concerned about recurrent expenditure which makes up 16% of GDP and 60% of the budget. They noted that two years ago, 33% of the budget was going to development; now it is down to 25% and that is still going to come under more pressure as public salaries and recurrent expenditure goes up unless the government strengthens its public finance management, ensure efficiency in the collection of taxes, cut waste & corruption, and ropes in a large part of the population who are not making a fair contribution – and the team opined that if these three measures were achieved, the budget’s ambitious targets would be met and this could even enable future tax cuts.

Local Industry & Manufacturing Support: The Kenya government plans to grow manufacturing’s share of GDP from 9% to 15%. This will be enabled by raising customs taxes on iron, steel, textiles, footwear in order to promote local industries by protecting them from cheap imports. The government has also come up with offer off-peak electrical energy schemes at lower tariff’s to encourage businesses to manufacture over 24-hours.

Interest Rate Caps: In his budget speech last week, the CS Treasury requested a repeal of interest rate caps and the Barclays team was hopeful that would be approved by Parliament, saying that the cap had resulted in unintended consequences that were detrimental to the credit sector – with small businesses being unable to access bank credit and that t had also complicated monetary policy decision making.

Financial Behaviour: The team also discussed a draft financial markets conduct bill that was recently introduced as one of the alternative solutions to the interest caps and which is now going through public participation. They said that Barclays had given feedback on the bill which is likely to increase the cost of regulation through double licensing, and which is unclear on who it protects.  They said that the bill borrows from Western countries where there was aggressive credit expansion to people who should not have been borrowing, whereas here it is the opposite situation of there being too little credit.

Conclusion: The budget breakdown is a part of a series of sessions that Barclays will have on topical issues that impact their corporate clients, and another session will take place in Mombasa.

M&A Moment: March 2018

Various merger/acquisition (M&A) deals in the last few weeks and months in East Africa since the last update.

Banking and Finance: Finance, Law, & Insurance M&A

Centum Investments is selling its shareholding in GenAfrica Asset Managers to Kuramo Capital LLC, an independent investment management firm based in New York City with offices in Nairobi and Lagos, and registered as an investment advisor by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Centum sold 25% of Platcorp Holdings to  Suzerian Investments a consortium of the Platcorp management team (platinum credit and premier credit) which provides emergency loans to individuals in  Kenya Uganda Tanzania while Premier offers working capital loans to companies – at a 31% return.

AfricInvest, a leading pan-African mid-cap-focused private equity firm invested in Britam Holdings Plc (Britam),  taking up a 14.3% stake. The investment was made in partnership with DEG-Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (DEG), The Dutch Development Bank FMO, and Proparco, a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), focused on private sector development.

Hamilton Harrison & Mathews Advocates (HH&M), one of Kenya’s oldest and largest law firm has agreed to combine with Dentons, the world’s largest law firm. Upon regulatory approval, HH&M will become part of Dentons, which is combining with seven elite firms in Africa, the Caribbean and South-East Asia.

The Competition Authority of Kenya has authorized the proposed acquisition of control in AON Kenya Insurance Brokers by Extologix Proprietary through Heartland Holdings.

BitPesa, the first and largest blockchain payments platform for Africa and Europe, announced their acquisition of TransferZero, an international, online money transfer platform that specializes in sending money to consumers and companies in 200 countries using over 50 different currencies.

Mastercard has completed its acquisition of mobile payments technology company Oltio from Standard Bank Group. The acquisition builds on Mastercard’s longstanding relationship with Oltio’s technology enables consumers to authenticate Masterpass digital wallet purchases in South Africa using their bank PIN and mobile phone.

DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, is investing EUR 4 million in M-BIRR, a cashless money transfer and payment service in Ethiopia to improved access to banking services in Ethiopia on a wide scale. Other investors include the European Investment Bank (EIB). The Finnish development finance company Finnfund has been a shareholder in M-BIRR since as early as 2012 which is inspired by the success story of the Kenyan provider M-PESA.

The Competition Authority authorized the proposed acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital of Youjay’s Insurance Brokers by I & M Insurance Agency.  I&M Bank, through its subsidiary, I&M Insurance Agency, has completed the acquisition of Youjays Insurance Brokers. Founded in 1987, Youjays deals in life and non-life products and has 400 customers and has an insurance premium portfolio of Kshs 400 million.

Customers of Chase Bank were given an update by the Central Bank (CBK) and the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) on the ongoing takeover of selected assets and liabilities of their  bank by State Bank of Mauritius (SBM).

Food & Beverage M&A

A South-African based private equity fund has invested Sh404 million ($4 million) to acquire an undisclosed stake in Kenyan fast food chain Big Square. Uqalo says its investment will expand its footprint from the current nine stores to 30 over the next four years. Uqalo, which targets investments located in Kenya, Ethiopia and Nigeria, is primarily funded by Hong Kong-based supply chain and logistics conglomerate Fung Group and its strategy is to acquire minority stakes by investing between Sh202m and Sh506m ($2m and $5m) in “mature businesses” through equity or convertible debt (via Business Daily).

The Competition Authority approved the proposed acquisition of 100% shareholding in Nairobi Java House Ltd by Star Foods Holdings.

Wow Beverages has made an application to enter into exclusive import arrangements with specified international and local manufacturers and suppliers of ‘premium’ wines and spirits in Kenya – from Gallo Vineyards Inc. trading as E&J Gallow Winery Europe, Vina San Pedro Tarapasca S.A, Felix Solis Avantis S.A, Afrique Interlink (PTY), Interlink (PTY) Limited, Edrington Group Limited and Tradall S.A (Bacardi-Martini Group).

Seaboard has made a low offer to buy out other minority shareholders of Unga.

The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) Chebut factory is set to take over management of 260 acres of mature tea owned by the Nandi county government after the conclusion of ongoing negotiations.

Kenyan billionaire David Langat has acquired one of the largest tea farms in Tanzania in a deal that puts his company as one of the single largest tea producers in East Africa. Langat is thought to have paid a British firm, Rift Valley Corporation, close to Sh6 billion ($60 million) for a controlling stake, 99 per cent, in Mufindi Tea and Coffee Limited, Rift Valley Tea Solutions Limited and Kibena Tea Limited. The businessman owns Koisagat Tea Estate in Nandi and Kapchepet tea factory that processes CTC tea for export under his company D L Koisagat. He also runs Selenkei Investments Ltd, a company that generates electricity from solar energy plus the imposing Nyali Centre in Mombasa County as well as the Sunrise Resort in the same county.

Carnivore owner Tamarind acquires Kengeles: The Competition Authority has approved the deal with a notice that “The merger will not affect competition negatively; and the combined turnover of the parties for the preceding year, 2016, was Sh1,224,757,242. However, the target had a turnover of Sh94,067,983, which is less than Sh100 million, and therefore, the transaction meets the threshold for exclusion under the Merger Threshold Guidelines” (via the Business Daily).

Logistics, Engineering, & Agri-Biz M&A

Ascent Rift Valley Fund (ARVF), a leading SME Private Equity Fund investor will acquire a majority stake in Auto Springs East Africa, a Limuru-based factory that produces a wide range of products for the motor assembly and vehicle spare parts industry. It will be done in a partnership deal with SFC Finance.

Sendy, an app-based on-demand delivery services platform operating across Kenya, has completed a Series A investment round, led by DOB Equity. DOB Equity will invest alongside CFAO, member of the Toyota Group, and other private investors. DOB Equity says that the new funds will enable Sendy to increase their platforms’ service offering. This includes adding more delivery vehicles to their platform, increasing their coverage area, expanding the sales and technology team, and preparing for future expansion into neighboring countries in East Africa.

The owners of flower farm Karuturi Limited have secured an investor to inject fund into their business as they fight to save their priced asset from being auctioned by CfC Stanbic over Sh1.8 billion loan default. The firm in a statement said that it has reached an agreement with Phoenix Group for a ‘blend of debt and equity’ which will help it to meet its current debt obligations and restart its operations (Via Business Daily)

Ethiopia acquires 19% in Berbera Port becoming a strategic shareholder; UAE’s DP World has 51% while Somaliland gets 30% following the agreement being signed.

Trading on Express Kenya shares has resumed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) after a three-month suspension following a takeover bid by the firm’s CEO Hector Diniz. Diniz Holdings, an investment firm, has bid to acquire the 38.36% stake held by other shareholders other than its affiliates for Sh5.50 a share. (Via Business Daily).

The Competition Authority authorized the proposed acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Trillvane Ltd by Kuehne+ Nagel limited.

The Competition Authority authorized the proposed acquisition of Carzan Flowers (Kenya) limited by Star Bright Holdings.

The Competition Authority authorized the proposed acquisition by Diamond (bc) b.v. of the Diversey Care division of Sealed Air Corporation (“sealed air”) and of Sealed Air’s food hygiene and cleaning business within its food care division.

The Competition Authority authorizes the proposed acquisition of 51% shareholding in Mavuno Fertilizers Limited by Omya (Schweiz) Ag.

Trans Miller Limited carrying on the business of food processing, packaging and distribution and other related agri-business activities, situate at L.R. No. 4953/1185, Thika, have been sold and transferred by the transferor to Tahuna Limited, who will carry on the said business of manufacturing under the name and style of Tahuna Limited.

Funguo Investments Limited has acquired a majority – 51% stake in Feastfoods Processors Limited, a food processing company that has been set up to manufacture fruit juice puree and concentrates in Kwale County (via Business Today)

The Competition Authority of Kenya excludes the proposed acquisition of 51% of the issued share capital of Ess Equipment Kenya Limited by Vronbisman Limited from the provisions of Part IV of the Act due to the following reasons as the acquirer does not operate in Kenya and the target’s turnover for the preceding year 2017 was KSh. 79,314,330 and therefore, meets the threshold for exclusion under the merger threshold guidelines.

Airline/ Oil/Energy/Mining M&A

Kenya Airways PLC, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) and Societe Air France S.A (Air France) have made an application under section 25 (1) of the Act for the exemption of their proposed Agreement of Accession and Amendment to Joint Venture Agreement (proposed Amended JV) from the provisions of section• A of Part III of the Act. The application for exemption is for an indefinite period (as long as the amended N Agreement remains in force).1. The proposed Amended N agreement provides as follows —(a) the inclusion of Air France as a party to the Joint Venture Agreement (original JV agreement) between Kenya Airways and KU* and(b) that all references to KLM in the original JV be construed as a reference to both KLM and Air France.

There has been an ownership change at Safarilink as ALS Limited, one of the shareholders of the firm, sold its entire to Bridges Limited, a Ramco Group affiliate, and an existing shareholder. As a result of this private transaction, Captain Aslam Khan of ALS relinquished his position of chairman with Safarilink’s owners settling on Mr. Ngunze to steer the airline’s board (via Business Daily)

Ethiopian Airlines, the largest Aviation Group in Africa announced that it has finalized shareholders agreement with the Government of Zambia for the re-launch of Zambia Airways. The Government of Zambia will be the majority shareholder with 55% and Ethiopian will have 45% stakes in the airline – and this comes after another consolidation at Ethiopian.

Base Resources announced that it reached an agreement with World Titane Holdings whereby Base Resources will acquire an initial 85% interest in the wholly owned Mauritian subsidiaries of World Titane, which between them hold a 100% interest in the Toliara Sands Project in Madagascar. Base Resources will acquire the remaining 15% interest, with a further US$17 million payable on achievement of key milestones, as the project advances to mine development. The acquisition is to be funded by the A$100 million share offer currently underway, refer below for further details. Completion of the acquisition is expected to occur in late January 2018.

Investec Asset Management through its Africa Private Equity increased its investment in Mobisol with consortium partners the IFC and FMO. Mobisol, headquartered in Berlin deals with the energy demand from off-grid households and has operations in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda where it has sold 110,000 systems benefiting over 550,000 people.

Following Total SA’s commitment, the Government has consented to a proposed acquisition of the issued and to-be issued share capital of Maersk Oil Exploration International (Mogas Kenya) in respect of Blocks 10BA, 10BB and 13T. Earlier, Total had acquired Maersk Oil for $7.45 billion in a share and debt transaction.

Africa Finance Corporation and Harith General Partners (Aldwych Holdings) have merged their electricity generation assets into a new company – Anergi Holdings (includes Lake Turkana Wind Farm and Rabai Heavy Fuel plant in Kenya.

The Competition Authority approved the proposed acquisition of indirect control of Savannah Cement by Benson Sande Ndeta. 

The Competition Authority approved the proposed acquisition of Associated Vehicle Assemblers by Simba corporation. 

Real Estate & Supermarkets M&A

Actis has agreed to sell its 79.5% majority stake in Mentor Management Limited a Kenyan project management company, to Turner & Townsend, a global construction and management consultant. The management team of MML will retain its minority stake. Actis acquired a controlling stake in MML in 2011 (Via Business Daily).

Mr. Price franchised business carried on by Deacons (East Africa) PLC will be transferred on or after 1st April 2018 to MIRP Retail Kenya Limited  which will carry on the business.

Nakumatt Holdings and Tusker Mattresses have made an application under section 25 of the Act for the exemption of their proposed management services and loan Agreement for a period of three years.1. The terms of the agreement are that: Tuskys shall provide management services to Nakumatt including procurement and inventory management; Tuskys shall advance a loan to Nakumatt to provide it with emergency funding which shall be used to pay some of the outstanding amounts to employees and landlords; Tuskys shall provide recurring payment guarantees to the suppliers of the target to ensure the suppliers supply stocks to the following Nakumatt’s outlets: Village Market, Galleria, Ukay Center, Lavington, Prestige, Mega, Highridge, Karen Crossoads, Ridgeways, Lifestyle, Embakasi, Garden City.

After 40 years, Makini Schools are being old to Schole Ltd, who will acquire all shares of Makini, and who will work with ADvTECH to enhance the quality of education as Makini continues with the Kenyan curriculum.

Telecommunications, Media & Publishing M&A

Kwesé has acquired a significant stake in iflix Africa, which will now form part of Kwesé’s diverse broadcast offering, as the core vehicle to deliver seamless mobile experiences to millions of viewers in Africa. Having set up operations in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa, iflix offers users the region’s most extensive collection of highly acclaimed local African and international series and movies, including first-to-market exclusive programming. This, in partnership with Kwesé’s broadcast operations and footprint, will create an exceptional mobile offering for consumers on the continent.

TPG Growth, the middle market and growth equity investment platform of global alternative asset firm TPG, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in TRACE, the market leader in afro-urban music and entertainment. The remaining stake will be owned by TRACE’s co-founder and management team. TPG Growth will invest alongside Evolution Media and Satya Capital. As part of the transaction, MTG, a leading international digital entertainment group that invested in TRACE in 2014, will sell its stake in the company.

International Paper and Board Supplies carrying on the business of trading in printing and packaging materials and consumables at L.R. No. 209/11066, will transfer all its business, stocks and assets to The Print Store who intends to carry on the business from the aforesaid premises.

The Competition Authority authorizes the proposed acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Alldean Networks limited, Simbanet com limited and Wananchi telecom limited by Synergy.

Pressmaster carrying on the business of trading in printing and packaging materials and consumables at L.R. No. 209/12156, will transfer all its business, stocks and assets to Pressmaster Africa Ltd.

The Competition Authority authorized the proposed acquisition of the assets and business of International Paper and Board Supplies Limited by the Print Stores Limited, on condition that the acquirer absorbs not less than 45 out of the current 78 employees in the target business.

The Competition Authority authorizes the proposed acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Pressmaster Africa Limited by Ramco Plexus.

Edit From Tanzania where businessman Ali Mufuruki is seeking to increase his stake in Wananchi Group,  incorporated in Tanzania from 1% to 51% by acquiring 50% of the company, according to this notice (PDF) to Tanzania’s Fair Competition Commission.

Edit American Tower Corporation (ATC) has reached an agreement to acquire 723 telecommunication towers held by Telkom Kenya for an undisclosed amount. The deal, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2018, will give the multinational a presence in the country, nearly a decade after making its maiden foray into East Africa through similar acquisitions in neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania. Read more

Other M&A

The Competition Authority authorized the proposed acquisition of 40% of the ordinary shares in AAH (BVI) limited by Oman Trading International with certain veto rights.