Business Daily: The latest regulatory filings have come out to show that billionaire businessman Jimnah Mbaru has now transacted over Sh. 1 billion worth of shares in Britam. This is after he moved Britam shares worth more than half a billion shillings, marking the second time that the wealthy investor has traded a significant stake of the financial services group’s stock.
Jimnah Mbaru first moved 20 million shares in the five months to November 2012, worth about Sh116 million.
The latest shareholding filings show that Jimnah Mbaru moved 19.9 million Britam shares in December, cutting his stake to 10.2 per cent from the previous 11.59 per cent.
The shares are worth Sh580 million based on the company’s share price of Sh29 in Tuesday’s trading. The Britam share price has more than tripled from the initial public offering (IPO) price of Sh9 in July 2011.
He also pledged 60.7 million shares worth an estimated Sh478 million as security for a bank loan in the same period.
Despite the fresh trade, Jimnah Mbaru remains one of the top Britam owners with shares currently worth Sh5.7 billion. The lock-in period for the firm’s major shareholders expired in August 2013, giving them a free hand to harvest their investment in the insurance group.
The filings, however, show that Britam’s single-largest shareholder, Dawood Rawat, increased his stake in the group by about 8.2 million shares in December.
The Mauritius-based British American Insurance (BAI), a firm controlled by Mr Rawat, bought the additional shares worth about Sh241 million on the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm.
The new investment brings Mr Rawat’s total interest in Britam to 20.3 per cent, cementing his position as the single-largest shareholder of the company.
