Kenya’s Consolidated Bank To Be Privately Owned In A Year

The move to sell its shares within the 2012/2013 financial year will get Kenya’s state-owned Consolidated Bank privatized in one year.
According to the Finance Permanent Secretary, Joseph Kinyua, this will be after the Privatisation Commission completes its work and new commissioners are appointed.

Kinyua noted that the shares would have been sold earlier than now if not for the delays in appointment of commissioners as a result of the disagreement between the Treasury and House Finance Committee over vetting.
The Finance/Treasury PS revealed that the privatisation commission is currently working on listing the bank on the Nairobi Stock Exchange by next year.

Kinyua said “The government’s intention is to eventually privatise the bank and ideally give Kenyans an opportunity to own and participate in the affairs of the bank.”

Meanwhile, the bank has launched a four billion shilling medium-term corporate bond to finance its business in the region. The bond will be open to both retail and institutional investors to invest a minimum of a hundred thousand shillings pegged on seven years while interest will be payable half yearly.

Established in the late 80s to absorb the collapse of financial institutions, Consolidated Bank, Kenyan government directly owns a 50.2 percent stake while the Deposit Protection Fund (DPF) owns 49.8 percent through a number of parastatals-about 25. The government also own minority shares in National Bank and KCB, which are already listed on the NSE.


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