Centum Investment Company Limited

Centum Investment Company Limited
Type Public: NSE & USE: ICDC
Industry Equity Investments
Founded 1967
Headquarters Nairobi, Kenya
Key people James Ngatia Muguiyi, Chairman
James Mwirigi Mworia, Managing Director
Products Equity Ownerships, Real Estate Development
Total assets US$150 million (2010)[1]
Website Homepage

Centum Investment Company Limited, commonly known as Centrum or Centum Investments, is a private, publicly-traded investment company based in Kenya. It operates as an affiliate of the government-owned Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC)[2]

Contents

History

Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation was founded in 1967, as a government parastatal, whose primary objective was to provide a vehicle for Kenyans to invest in the economy of newly-independent Kenya, by investing in Kenyan companies. ICDC formed a subsidiary called ICDC Investment Company Limited, whose shares were listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE), in 1967.

In 1998, with the Government of Kenya, having sold some of its majority shareholding, ICDC Investment Company adopted a new management structure, handing over day-to-day management to an independent professional managerial team, supervised by an independent Board of Directors, elected by the shareholders. In 2007, the shareholders opted to change the name of the company to Centum Investment Company Limited.[3]

The shares of the company are publicly traded on the Nairobi Stock Exchange since 1967, and on the Uganda Securities Exchange, effective 10 February 2011.[4][5] Plans are underway to crosslist the company stock on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange and on the Rwanda Stock Exchange by 2013.[6]

Overview

Centum is a private company based in Kenya, whose shares are listed on the stock exchanges in Kenya and Uganda, where they are publicly traded under the symbol: ICDC.[7] The company is a medium-sized investment company with total assets under management totaling about US$144 million (KES:12 billion), as of September 2010.[8] Centum's investments are organised in three (3) divisions:

Quoted Private Equity

This is the division that invests in publicly traded companies in various stock exchanges on the African continent.

Private Equity

This division acquires equity positions in non-publicly-traded companies, mainly in East Africa, but increasingly in other African countries.

Real Estate and Infrastructure

This division is involved in real estate development in Kenya and Uganda, with an eye to expanding into other East African countries.[9][10]

Ownership

As of March 2010, the company stock was owned by the following corporate entities and individuals: [11]

Centum Investment Company Stock Ownership
Rank Name of Owner Percentage Ownership
1 Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation 23.51
2 Christopher John Kirubi 17.52
3 Stanbic Nominees (Kenya) Limited 05.75
4 Kiruma International Ltd 05.15
5 International House Ltd 04.19
6 Barclays Bank (Kenya) Nominees 01.25
7 Jubilee Insurance Company of Kenya 00.84
8 John Kibunga Kimani 00.46
9 Over 37,000 Other Investors 41.32
Total 100.00

External links

See also

References