Businessman Jimnah Mbaru last year transferred 64.8 million Britam shares valued at Sh322 million at current price into nominee accounts, cutting the volume held directly under his name to 130 million units.
Filings in Britam’s annual report for 2022 show he ended last year with a direct holding of 130 million shares, having opened the year at 194.8 million units. He, however ,told the Business Daily that the movement was not as a result of a sale, but rather a transfer into nominee accounts under his name, with the approval of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) since he is a director in the insurance firm.
His stake in the company as per the annual report was thus listed at 7.72 percent by end of last year, unchanged from 2021.
None of the other top 10 shareholders in Britam, who include Mr Mbaru’s fellow Britam founders Peter Munga, Benson Wairegi and James Mwangi, recorded a change in the number of shares directly held in the period, the annual report shows.
There were no recorded large block sales on the Britam stock last year, suggesting the share transfer was done off-market.
The Britam share traded in a range of Sh4.97 and Sh7.58 last year, moving 15.9 million units as per the daily trading price lists issued by the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). At close of trading Monday, the company’s share price stood at Sh4.97 per unit.
Britam’s shareholder filings in the annual report indicated that the percentage of issued shares in the hands of local institutional investors rose higher compared to the other investor categories in the period, pointing to the transfer by Mr Mbaru from his individual account to the nominee accounts.
Local institutions held 919.4 million shares of Britam by last December, equivalent to a 36.4 percent stake, up from 849.7 million units (33.7 percent) a year earlier.
On the other hand, the stake in the hands of local individuals dropped from 593.7 million to 528.4 million units, representing a decline from 23.5 percent to 20.9 percent of Britam’s issued shares.
Foreign investors, led by Swiss Re, IFC and Africinvest remained the biggest owners of the insurer, with a holding of 43.63 percent by the close of 2022.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story indicated that Mr Mbaru had sold 64.8 million Britam shares in the year to December 2022. He has since clarified that he did not sell any Britam shares in the period, but rather transferred part of his stake into nominee accounts.
