Troubled Savannah Cement has been acquired by a group of local tycoons in a multi-billion deal. The cement maker has been bought by tycoons who are currently in the flour milling industry in a deal worth Sh3.8 billion.
The tycoons are associated with milling companies that include Mombasa Maize Millers, Eldoret Grains Limited, and Kitui Flour Millers. Supa Loaf is one of the popular brands in the market associated with the investors. The others are Dola Maize Meal, and Taifa Maize Meal.
The new Savannah Cement shareholders and directors on record at the registrar of companies are Montgate Holdings, SMA Investments, and Mo Ali Kenya, all of who are associated with the three flour milling businesses.
The acquisition has already been approved by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK). “Under the proposed transaction, the acquirer will acquire the target’s business and assets, thereby preventing their exit and ensuring their continued productivity and reservation,” CAK Director General David Kimei said when he appeared before the National Assembly’s Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Committee.
“The transaction was approved without conditions on August 25, 2025, since it was unlikely to lead to a substantial prevention or lessening of competition and no negative public interest concerns were envisaged.”
The acquisition of Savannah Cement may have come as a relief for Savannah which has been under administration after piling up multi-billion debts. By the time Savannah was placed under administration, the cement maker owed KCB Bank Kenya Sh8.89 billion. It also owed Absa Bank (formerly Barclays Bank Kenya) Sh5.23 billion.
The loan owed to Absa Bank was in both the local currency and the US dollar unit. The loan charged in dollar totaled USD16.45 million.
Savannah had secured the two mega loans by essentially offering all its assets as security. This meant that in the event of a default, both banks were empowered to move in and seize Savannah as a whole to recover the money.
In April 2024, Savannah’s administrator Peter Kahi from PFK Consulting revealed that Savannah had made losses for five years in a row by the time it was placed under administration.
He exposed that the two debts owed to the two banks were not the only ones the cement maker was struggling with. Apparently, as at May 2023, Savannah’s total debts totaled Sh18 billion. This means that the two banks account for up to 78 per cent of the total debts.
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Absa Bank Kenya and KCB Bank Kenya were cleared by the High Court to appoint an administrator to manage Savannah Cement in May 2023.
The cement manufacturer had applied to the court in May 2022 disputing the debt which at the time was estimated to be of over Sh7 billion owed to KCB Bank Kenya and over Sh3 billion owed to Absa Bank Kenya. Court filings showed that the cement maker has defaulted on the loan repayment and KCB said interest alone stands at Sh297 million plus a penalty of Sh13.5 million.
