Revealed: The silent tycoons behind troubled cereals firm

Read: Kibaki-era tycoons' company falls over Sh3.7bn KCB loan

But a review of ownership documents in a web of companies at the Business Registration Service (BRS) has revealed a shareholder roster that includes wealthy and former CEOs of blue-chip firms such as East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL), Mumias Sugar and CBA Bank, now NCBA.

Former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero, flamboyant investment banker John Ngumi, and the current chairman of NCBA Bank, Isaac Awuondo, are some of the surprise names that count as owners of the Proctor & Allan East Africa Limited, a search at BRS revealed.

The three, together with eight others, own an 11.8 percent stake in the giant cereals manufacturer through an investment vehicle known as Peri Investments—which was formed in 1994.

Besides Mr Awuondo, whose direct ownership of Proctor & Allan works out to two percent, the rest have shares equivalent to one percent each in the troubled cereal maker.

Proctor & Allan was thrust into the limelight last week when the High Court placed it under the receivership after it failed to service a KCB Group loan estimated at Sh3.7 billion.

KCB Group financed the acquisition of Proctor & Allan’s manufacturing plant in Limuru in 2015, but the firm was unable to repay the loan amid struggles to raise working capital to run the plant.

The cereals manufacturer had ambitious expansion plans after it relocated its factory from Nairobi’s Lusaka Road, but ran into headwinds amid competition from rivals and an economic downturn which affected demand of its products.

It rushed to court to block the receivership and indicated that an unnamed buyer was willing to inject $10 million (Sh1.30 billion) to revive the firm and pay the KCB debt.

The court temporarily halted the receivership.

The deal looks set to trigger a fresh shakeup of the firm’s boardroom and ownership.

Read: Sh1bn buyout offer pauses Proctor & Allan receivership

Shareholders of Peri Investments include Charles Nyachae, the son of Simeon Nyachae, a powerful minister in President Daniel Moi’s government, the former CEO of East African Breweries Limited Gerald Mahinda, Frank Muchiri, the former managing director of Madison Insurance.

Renowned architect James Gitoho, one of the designers behind the Sh40 billion GTC building, Barclays Plaza, CFC Centre and the Communications Commission of Kenya headquarters, is also a shareholder of the investment vehicle.

James David Kabeberi, who recently resigned as an independent director of Kenya Airways, is the other shareholder of Peri Investments. Other Peri Investments owners are Eric Kimani and Stephen Waruhiu, an independent director at Kakuzi Plc.

Dr Kidero, Mr Awuondo, Mr Kabeberi and Mr Waruhiu are listed as directors and shareholders at Peri Investments.

The company search also shows that Mr Njoroge, the former KenGen managing director, and Mr Mbugua, both founders of TransCentury, a private equity firm with interests in power, transport and engineering, are the top shareholders in Proctor & Allan through another investment vehicle called Nerifa Holdings.

Nerifa Holdings, which is owned equally by Mr Njoroge and Mr Mbugua, has a 76.8 percent stake in Proctor & Allan, giving the two a direct 38.4 percent stake each in the manufacturer. They are also directors of the firm.

The family of Mr Kiuna has an 11.3 percent stake in Proctor & Allan through Karitie Limited. The former chairman of Nairobi bourse-listed BOC Kenya, and his family of three have a 20 percent stake each in Karitie.

This gives each of the four Kiunas, including Mr Kiuna’s son and former TransCentury CEO Gachao Kiuna, a 2.8 percent stake in Proctor & Allan.

Mr Mbugua or Zeph, as his friends call him, and a former chair of East African cables, a subsidiary of TransCentury, and Mr Njoroge were close allies of the late President Kibaki.

Proctor & Allan, which services the Kenya market and also exports its products to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, was incorporated in 1999 after it was acquired from Unga Group Limited by a group of investors and Acacia Fund Limited.

It joins a growing list of firms that have recently either been placed under receivership or administration as the impact of a wobbly economy took a toll.

Barely three weeks ago, Kenya’s oldest bus, coach, truck, and commercial body manufacturer, Labh Singh Harnam Singh Limited (LSHS), was placed under administration over a Sh1 billion bank debt.

The High Court placed LSHS under administration effective February 4, 2025, after the firm failed to service a Sh1.1 billion loan by KCB Group.

LSHS, which was established in 1950, had been servicing orders by brands such as Isuzu East Africa, Scania East Africa, DT Dobie, Hino Motors Kenya, Simba Colt Limited, King Long, and CMC Motors Group.

LSHS joined a record list of firms that had gone into administration in the year to June 2024, according to data from the BRS.

Among the firms that went into administration in the period was Mastermind Tobacco (K) Ltd over an undisclosed debt to I&M Bank.

Mastermind, which went into administration in December 2023, was at the time Kenya’s second-largest cigarette manufacturer.

Sendy Group, a technology-based logistics firm, was also placed under administration in September 2023 after defaulting on its debt.

A similar fate befell Vehicle and Equipment Leasing Limited (Vaell) in February 2024 after defaulting on credit to the tune of Sh1.1 billion.

In May 2024, e-commerce firm Copia was also placed in administration by its board of directors after failing to attract capital even as its costs piled.

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