NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 3 – The shares of both BOC Kenya and Carbacid Investment will resume trading on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday, November 4.
In a statement, NSE Chief Executive Officer Peter Mwangi said: “The stock market has received all the requisite approvals for the two companies from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).”
The two industrial and domestic gas suppliers agreed mid October to withdraw from a long court battle over a takeover bid by BOC on Carbacid. They subsequently applied to the CMA and the NSE to reinstate their shares which were suspended from trading on the bourse four years ago.
Following the out of court settlement, industrial gas manufacturer BOC Kenya started the process of returning the share certificates it had taken from Carbacid Investment shareholders, a process that was meant to have been completed by the end of October.
"The return of share certificates to the shareholders is underway and would be completed by the end of this week," BOC Managing Director John Kariuki told reporters at the company’s offices in Nairobi last week.
Mr Kariuki observed that though the business transaction with Carbacid failed to go through the company was still committed to growth and would focus its money on regional expansion.
“We are focused on the growth agenda of the company and will continue looking at other viable investments to put in funds that we had put aside for the Carbacid transaction,” he held.
BOC Gases is a subsidiary of Germany\’s Linde AG while Carbacid is a Kenyan carbon dioxide manufacturer. Both companies were suspended from the Nairobi Stock Exchange in 2005 after CMA ruled against BOC\’s takeover bid.
BOC had wanted to acquire 10.6 million shares in Carbacid, which would have brought its shareholding to 94 percent.
In May, Centum Investment announced the acquisition of a 22.6 percent stake in Carbacid.
