Sisal firm Rea Vipingo will delist from the Nairobi Securities Exchange after REA Trading Ltd acquired a 94.6 per cent stake.
Rea Trading had indicated that it wants to delist from the stock market to allow it to invest more in the sisal processor during the takeover bid.
In a newspaper ad Thursday REA Trading (REAT), which previously held 57 per cent of Rea Vipingo Plantations, finally acquired 94.62 per cent in the sisal firm at Sh85 per share, nearly two years after the offer was made.
REAT is wholly owned by the Robinow family whose other business interests include large-scale oil palm development in Indonesia.
In 2013, REAT expressed interest in buying out minority shareholders in the sisal firm at Sh40 per share. The offer was, however, countered by investment firms, Centum and Bid, with higher offers, a plan that boiled into a dispute spilling into the court.
A resolution of the dispute saw Centum acquire Rea Vipingo’s subsidiary, Vipingo Estates Limited – which owns about 900 acres at Sh340 million. Centum also acquired 9,646 acres of land in Vipingo at Sh180,000 per acre (translating into Sh1.7 billion).
REAT, which has now effectively taken control of the land-rich sisal company following the resolution of a long standing dispute between REAT and Centum, is to venture into renewable energy production among other investments.
“We are delighted with outcome of the offer. This allows us to move forward with our plans for the future, which involve diversification of the REA Vipingo Plantations business in addition to large-scale sisal growing. Amongst other things, we intend to look at the utilisation of biomass for energy generation,” REAT’s chairman Richard Robinow, said.
Shareholders who accepted the offer from REAT will receive Sh85 per share and a cash top-up of Sh15 per share. Settlement of the offer price will be effected as from July 1.
“The next step in the transaction will be de-listing of the company from the Nairobi Securities Exchange,” said the firm.
Speculation was rife that Rea Vipingo’s land straddling Kenya’s coast holds titanium ore, coal and limestone, which could have attracted the huge interest in the firm.
