Creditors of Kenya’s ARM Cement, once the country’s second-largest cement maker but which has been in administration since August, approved on Tuesday the sale of a subsidiary or assets to reduce its debt of $190 million, Reuters reported. The creditors did not identify which subsidiary or assets would be sold, or the possible value of a sale, under Tuesday’s rescue plan, during which the company will remain operational. George Weru, one of the co-administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), told Reuters they had 12 months to rescue the company.
Read more
The administrator of Kenya’s debt-laden ARM Cement will ask its creditors for support to keep the company running by selling some of ARM’s assets to cut debt, as well as a plan to engage with financiers for working capital, Reuters reported. George Weru, a co-administrator for the cement firm, told Reuters the proposals will be put to the company’s creditors on Tuesday when they meet to chart the best way forward. The company was put into administration in August by some of its creditors and its shares suspended from the Nairobi bourse.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) said on Monday it had suspended trading of Kenya’s ARM Cement three days after it was put under administration, Reuters reported. “The suspension in trading of the company’s shares takes effect from August 20, 2018,” NSE said in a statement. “This suspension shall remain in force for seven (7) working days.” The suspension is issued with the approval of the Capital Markets Authority, NSE said.
Read more
Kenya’s ARM Cement has been put into administration, PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a statement on Saturday, days after ARM Cement’s chief executive officer said he was relinquishing his post but staying on its board, Reuters reported. PWC’s Muniu Thoiti and George Weru have been appointed as joint administrators. PWC’s statement, published in local newspapers, said the administration, under Kenya’s Insolvency Act, was effective on Aug. 17.
Read more
ARM Cement Ltd. of Kenya has yet to reach an agreement with the International Finance Corp. about a capital injection in the struggling Kenyan company, Chief Executive Officer Pradeep Paunrana said. Business Daily, a Kenyan newspaper, reported Wednesday that the IFC had agreed to take over $120 million in loans in a bid to settle ARM’s more expensive debt, Bloomberg News reported.
Read more
The proprietor of Jack and Jill supermarket in Nairobi Ahmed Noorani has been told to wait longer before taking any action against a businessman who owes him Sh167 million, The Standard reported. High Court judge Francis Tuiyot said Friday businessman Rajendra Sanghani's insolvency case must be determined before Noorani can take actions. Sanghani owes Noorani Sh167, 270,500 as the balance for a Sh477,100,000 unsecured loan advanced between August 1, 2012 and April 26, 2018. He filed for restructuring at the High Court and sought interim orders under Section 304 of the Insolvency Act.
Read more
National Bank of Kenya Ltd., which has the biggest bad-loan book in the Kenyan banking industry, is considering closing some of its 85 branches to cut costs, Chief Executive Officer Wilfred Musau said, Bloomberg News reported. Lenders in East Africa’s biggest economy are being forced to lower expenses after a government-imposed cap on commercial lending rates impaired their ability to provide loans and as consumers embrace digital banking, including Safaricom Ltd.’s M-Pesa platform.
Read more
Kenya Airways will be almost 90 per cent owned by the Kenyan government and a group of 11 local banks under a restructuring deal to be unveiled on Monday, after the terms of a debt for equity swap for the lossmaking airline were agreed, the Financial Times reported. The Kenyan government will own 48.9 per cent of Kenya Airways and the banks 38.1 per cent after the debt-for-equity swap, agreed in principle in June.
Read more
Kenya’s Nakumatt is seeking court protection to rebuild its fortunes after creditors demanded millions of dollars owed by a company that grew from a small Rift Valley bed shop to become East Africa’s biggest supermarket chain, Reuters reported. One source close to the company, whose flagship Nairobi store was destroyed in the 2013 Westgate attack by Somali militants, said it owed creditors including landlords and suppliers as much as 20 billion shillings ($193 million). In January, the managing director of the chain, Atul Shah, told Reuters the debt then stood at $150 million.
Read more
Kenya's central bank said on Friday it planned to extend the receivership of Imperial Bank by a year to help finalise a deal with a strategic investor to take a stake in the bank, Reuters reported. The regulator also said it had granted a licence to a new locally owned bank, Mayfair Bank Limited, the second such licence since 2015, when it imposed a moratorium on approving new lenders.
Read more