SportPesa, e****lished in Kenya in 2014, is one of the fastest-growing companies in corporate Kenya. It is now the leading sports ******* company in Kenya and has spread its wings to Tanzania, Italy, and the UK, wowing the sports industry with m***ion-dollar sponsorships.
The real owners of SportPesa have hitherto remained low-profile, with the CEO Ronald Karauri, w** is among the minority share**lders, being the face of the company.
But the recent move by the government to suspend licences for ******* companies to have them comply with taxation laws turned the spotlight on SportPesa, being the biggest player and with strong Kenyan roots.
SportPesa in Kenya is owned and operated by Pevans East Africa, a company with share**lders from Kenya, Bulgaria and the United States.
SportPesa is also linked to TGP Europe Ltd, licensed and regulated by the ******** Commission of Great Britain for provision of services to the United Kingdom with its base in Douglas, Isle of Man, a tax haven for ******** companies.
SportPesa’s **lding company’s largest share**lder is a Bulgarian, Guer***im Nikolov, a casino owner w** moved to Nairobi in 1999 from Sofia, where he operated a casino. He founded SportPesa in 2014 and describes himself as CEO on his Linkedin profile. He is also director of the broad of Standard Global Kenya.
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With a huge background in ********, he is said to be the man behind First Lotto, which operated between 2001 to 2005 and Grand Regency Casino between 1999 and 2002. In Bulgaria he operated Casino Rodina between 1992 and 1997.
Nikolov and other Bulgarian investors are said to have provided the ******** and digital technology expertise in the consortium that founded SportPesa.
Share**lding structure
The largest Kenyan share**lder is Asenath Wacera Maina. Paul Wanderi Ndung’u, another major share**lder, is a prominent entrepreneur in Kenya, having invested early in mobile telecommunications as a Safaricom ******, and he is a major financier and fundraiser for Kenyatta’s Jubilee party.
The most recent share**lder records quoted by the Saturday Nation s**w that Guer***im Nikolov, owns a 21% stake in the company, making him one of the three biggest owners.
The other two largest share**lders are Gene Grand and Asenath Wacera, w** own a 21% stake each. Grand is a foreigner while Ms Wacera, is the widow of *****on Wathika, the former mayor of Nairobi. In total, the three own 63%.
Paul Wanderi Ndung’u owns a 17% in the firm. Ndung’u, w** built his fortune as a Safaricom distributor, has been the firm’s board chairman.
Ronald Karauri, a former Kenya Airways pilot, w** is the firm’s chief executive officer and owns 7% stake.
The other share**lders are Robert Kenneth Wanyoike Macharia (3%), Cellini **ldings Limited (3%), Valentina Nikolaeva Mineva (3%), Ivan Stoyanov Kalpakchiev (2%), Francis Waweru Kiarie (1%) and Peter Kihanya Muiruri (1%).
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Glad to see a mix of ethnicity and nationality in the shareholding.SS