The proposed acquisition of the giant cement manufacturing firm Bamburi has hit homestretch with shareholders expected to give their verdict in the buyout by one of the two bidders.

Shareholders of the entity have until December 5 to give the last word in the multi-billion-shilling transaction that involves Kenyan firm Savannah Clinker and Amsons Ltd from neighbouring Tanzania.

The bidding process has been given a clean bill of health by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) as well as the Independent Advisory Board who have now forwarded the matter to the shareholders to pick one of the bidders.

Amsons was the first to bid at a price of Sh23.4 billion before Savannah Clinker came with a counter-offer of Sh27.7 billion, a difference of Sh4 billion.

Barring any political interference, the process should come to a conclusion on December 5 when the shareholders will give their verdict on the Bamburi buyout.

In the intervening period, parties are allowed by law to improve the pricing of their bids. It remains to be seen whether any of the two will hike their stakes.

The last two weeks have witnessed a spring-up of well-co-ordinated key board warriors with strong political overtones staging a vigorous campaign in favour of the Tanzanian firm Amsons which has been guaranteed by a Kenyan financial lender, KCB Bank, and has already received approval from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) Competition Commission.

Some of the online commentators – believed to be acting at the behest of highly-placed political actors – have been calling for cancellation of the bidding process while throwing brickbats at CMA which welcomed a new chairman of the Board only last month when the bidding process was already underway. The acquisition of Bamburi Cement has emerged as the biggest takeover deal in the history of Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) so far.

The competition tension has turned into a boon for the investment community who have seen the stock price rise up significantly over the last few months.

Bamburi is one of the oldest and iconic names in Kenya, having been founded in 1951. It is a legacy brand whose history mirrors the story of independent Kenya.

The takeover transaction is only possible when the majority shareholder, in this case Holcim, expresses desire to exit its position in the company.  Holcim has already sold its interests in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Kenya is the latest in Holcim’s move to exit Africa with Egypt and Nigeria being the other countries where the giant firm still has interests.

In Kenya’s case, Holcim held discussions with several entities before settling on Amsons in an irrevocable agreement to sell its stake.  The transaction would have been sealed had a second interested party not showed interest.

Being a listed company, the private agreement on price and terms had to be offered to the minority shareholders. It is at this juncture that the law allows any parties to improve the offer for all shareholders.  Savannah Clinker’s competing bid threw wide open the race as it automatically annulled the irrevocable agreement with Amsons.

Being the first major takeover transaction and the largest on NSE, the Capital Markets Authority has ably midwifed a very delicate process.

Whatever the outcome, this transaction will no doubt be used as a benchmark and template for future transactions.