The story of the day and probably going to be the deal of the year (trumping CFC/Stanbic merger – which while being 6X larger, is not really foreign direct investment – FDI into Kenya) is that Equity Bank is selling a 25% stake to Helios Investors – (official). The deal to sell 90.5m new at shares 122 shares ($1.80) will bring in about 11 billion ($160 million) in new capital to the Bank.
When last months’ post discussed local banks needing
to raise capital a deal of this size was not in the picture. With the new capital Equity will be able to do business up to 150 billion shillings (about
where Barclays is today) – but that growth cannot be organic, so you can look to Equity to buy up a half dozen smaller banks.
Other shareholders must approve the deal in which their stake will be reduced. Fortunately for top managers they will retain their stake while falling under the 5% CBK limit for managers.
Others
– Diamond Trust opens a Branch in Malindi: Way to go after those Italian
accounts
– NIC Bank to buy a stockbrokerage firm.
– Safaricom data costs up: Bamba net a USB modem service was introduced in August 2007 at a cost 6,000 shillings to connect and 2,000 ($28) per month for unlimited net usage up to 700MB then 10 per MB thereafter. Now a new one costs 12,500 and 12.6 per MB after 8,000 shillings worth of free internet.
Opportunities
Joint Voluntary Agency – Financial Comptroller Position: The Joint Voluntary Agency (JVA) operates a US refugee resettlement program in
eastern and southern Africa through a Cooperative Agreement with the Department. It is seeking a Financial Comptroller position (chief accounting officer for JVA Kenya)
Requirements: Professional Certification in Accounting such as CPA, ACCA or equivalent, Bachelor’s degree in commerce or business administration with
specialization in accounting, Four or more years work experience in the NGO sector at management level with supervisory duties, among others. Interested and qualified applicants should submit a cover letter and a résumé by November 20, 2007 to the
Human Resources Manager – hr@jvakenya.org
advertise your job postings here- but preferably only for companies that enable online or e-mail applications
Also
– Capital Markets Authority: Chief executive, Manager legal affairs, National Bank of Kenya – deputy managing director. apply through Hawkins
associates by 27/11
– Nairobi Stock Exchange; head of legal & compliance. apply through Deloitte
They sold at a low price, sh3 above closing price, not even 1% increase in closing price
i thought internet access should be cheaper in a bundle especially post paid! too many clients signed on perhaps?
I think the 6k offer was for postpaid customers only, who had to pay 2k every month. If prepaid, one had to cough up 14k, since no monthly payments. So I figure the reduction to 12k for prepaid, is meant to flag poor sales perhaps?
Not surprised those internet costs went up. I very much doubted they were sustainable. I also heard that they had some outrageous requirements when buying that modem like your PIN number. If there’s any truth to that one wonders …