Investment: Centum spins off Kings Beverage in Sh471m deal
By Noel Wandera, August 20, 2019
Centum Investment has offloaded its entire shareholding in King Beverage Ltd to Danish Brewing East Africa Ltd, a subsidiary of Bounty Global Management firm for a fee of Sh471 million, its chief executive James Mworia said in a statement.
Centum wholly owned Kings Beverage Ltd that distributes various alcoholic beverages, including Carlsberg, Jim Beam, Courvoisier, Teacher’s and Laphroaig single malt among others.
Capital gains
The sale comes barely two months after the investment firm announced plans to offload its 53.9 per cent stake in Almasi Beverages Ltd and 27.6 per cent stake in Nairobi Bottlers to Coca-Cola Sabco East Africa (CCBA) at a cost of Sh19.5 billion.
The latest divestiture is part of a long-term plan by the firm listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange to cut appetite for capital gains in favour of investing in cash-generating businesses.
The investment firm has in the last five years initiated exits in its private equity portfolio, from the Kenya Wine Agencies Limited, insurer UAP and GenAfrica.
Through its recent exit activities, Centum has raised Sh13 billion with exit gains represented by a share of Sh9.4 billion.