Joseph Wanjui
He is the chairman and the biggest individual owner at UAP, whose stake is now worth Sh7.7 billion based on the Sh180 per share price at which Old Mutual bought out his co-investors. Mr. Wanjui’s stake has dropped from a high of 35.84 per cent to 20.4 per cent. Based on UAP’s over-the-counter (OTC) price of Sh86 in June last year, Mr Wanjui’s portfolio was at the time worth Sh3.7 billion. That has, however, surged to Sh7.7 billion, amounting to a Sh4 billion gain in just seven months. Mr. Wanjui is a close ally of former president Mwai Kibaki, believes luck, hard work and gumption are the most critical success factors in life. “Even where luck and circumstance play a role, as they do in any situation, every chance they provide must be pursued and grabbed with both hands. I took advantage of the many breaks that came my way,” he says.
James Muguiyi
He is a former CEO at UAP. And with UAP’s share price surging to the current Sh180, more than double the company’s trading price of Sh86 in the OTC market in June last year, Mr. Muguiyi, whose holdings barely hit the Sh1 billion mark last year, is now firmly in the billionaires’ club with Sh2.2 billion worth of UAP shares. Mr Muguiyi is currently a director of the company and investment firm Centum where he is the chairman. Mr Wanjui and Mr Muguiyi have committed to retain their combined shareholding of 26.43 per cent, joining Old Mutual in holding their portfolio in the company for the long term.
Chris Kirubi
He made Sh3.6 billion, before tax, after selling his 9.58 per cent equity in UAP to the multinational. Mr Kirubi’s 9.58 per cent stake in the insurance group earned him more than Sh2.8 billion while Centum will received in excess of Sh4 billion for its 13.75 per cent shareholding in the company.
William Kimutai
He is listed as having a 1.65 per cent stake in UAP, made it to the list of top beneficiaries whose stake more than doubled to Sh629.1 million. He is among the few investors who hold the free floating 27.2 million shares.
Founders of Faulu Bank
The founders of Faulu Bank, a microfinance institution, earned Sh3.6 billion from Old Mutual’s acquisition of a 67 per cent stake in UAP last year.
