The board of Kenyan oil marketing company KenolKobil has accepted a takeover bid by French firm Rubis Energie, urging shareholders to accept the offer.
In a statement released on Friday, Rubis Energie indicated that it would offer 23 Kenya shillings to acquire shares held by shareholders in the firm as part of the takeover deal.
Following the approval by the board, shareholders have until February 18 to accept or reject the offer.
“Rubis Énergie SAS considers that KenolKobil Plc’s shareholders will find the offer price of 23 shillings per share very attractive as it represents a 53.4 percent premium to the volume weighted average price at which KenolKobil Plc shares traded over the 30 trading days,” the firm said in a statement.
KenolKobil’s share rallied during Friday’s early morning trade rising to 21.60 shillings after closing Thursday’s trading session at 19.20 shillings.
KenolKobil chairman James Mathenge in a notice in local dailies urged shareholders to accept the offer.
“After deliberations and on the basis of independent financial advice, the directors (of KenolKobil) are recommending to the shareholders of the company that they should accept the takeover offer by Rubis Energie,” Mathenge said.
The French firm already owns a 25 percent stake in KenolKobil, which it bought in October 2018 at 15.30 shillings per share for a total of 5.63 billion shillings ($55.4 million) ahead of making the takeover bid.
The acquisition is part of plans by Rubis to expand its presence in East and Central Africa.
Offer documents will be posted to KenolKobil shareholders on January 14 with the cash offer closing on February 18.
The Capital Markets Authority, Competition Authority of Kenya and the COMESA Competition Commission have all approved the takeover deal.
Upon conclusion of the deal, the French firm has announced plans to de-list KenolKobil from the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
