Bamburi investors get Sh. 22.7bn as Tanzanian firm completes buyout

The buyout of Bamburi Cement by Tanzanian firm Amsons Group has been finalized. The buyout was finalized on Thursday when 212.73 million Bamburi shares were transferred by the shareholders to the Tanzanian firm. These shares were worth Sh. 13.83 billion.

This transfer followed another on Wednesday, in which Bamburi investors transferred 137.06 million shares to Amsons. The total number of shares that were transferred in the sale was 349.8 million with a worth of Sh. 22.74 billion at a share price of Sh. 65 per share. With this transaction, Amsons now controls a 96.4 per cent stake in Bamburi.

The Tanzanian conglomerate had made an offer of $180 million (Sh. 23.2 billion). This takeover valuation was a premium on the Sh. 45 per share that Bamburi had as at the close of trading on July 10 before the offer was made public.

The acquisition is now the largest in the east African region. “Our offer to acquire shares in Bamburi is part of our corporate market expansion plan,” Amsons Group Managing Director, Edha Nahdi, had said.

“This acquisition will mark the formal entry of Tanzania’s Amsons Group into the Kenyan market, where we plan to make investments in other industries in the coming months. We have great plans to deepen our investment in Kenya and in Bamburi Cement.”

Local billionaire bought millions of Bamburi shares ahead of Amsons buyout offer

Amsons had been in competition for Bamburi with Savannah Clinker. This competition had on August 29, 2024 pushed the Bamburi share price to a high of Sh. 70 per unit. Savannah Clinker was however disqualified from taking part in the bid.

According to a breakdown on the shareholding of the cement maker, the top ten shareholders at Bamburi prior to the acquisition by Amsons were Fincem Holding Limited with a stake of 29.30 per cent, Kencem Holding Limited with a stake of 29.30 per cent, Standard Chartered nominees RESD A/C KE11396 with a stake of 15.68 per cent.

Aksaya Investment Holdings Limited with a stake of 5.72 per cent, Standard Chartered nominees RESD A/C KE11443 with a stake of 2.8 per cent, Standard Chartered nominees RESD A/C KE004667 with a stake of 1.12 per cent, Kestrel Capital Nominee Services Limited A/C 6 with a stake of 0.85 per cent.

Standard Chartered nominees NON-RESD A/C 9661 with a stake of 0.76 per cent, Standard Chartered nominees A/C KE 11993 with a stake of 0.72 per cent stake, Stanbic nominees limited AC R7551918 with a stake of 0.51 per cent. These shareholders held a combine stake of 86.77 per cent. The remaining shareholders who are 4,549 held the remaining stake of 13.23 per cent.