Billionaire Baloobhai Patel Grabs Ksh216m Stake in Co-op Bank

Baloobhai Patel, a reclusive billionaire who made his fortune trading equities, has taken a Ksh216.5 million stake in Co-operative Bank of Kenya (Co-op Bank), snapping up the bank’s steady stock to maintain his position as one of its largest shareholders in less than a year.

Co-op Bank’s shares were up 0.35 per cent at Ksh14.30 in early trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday. Baloobhai was not available for comment.

The commercial bank disclosed his stake on Monday in a filing with the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). His stock purchases – between Feb. 29 and Aug. 30 – make him one of the lender’s biggest individual shareholders, although he retained position three overall towards the last quarter of 2024.

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According to the CMA filing, Baloobhai, together with his wife, Amarjeet Baloobhai, bought 0.26% or 15.25 million shares to add to their initial 1.29% COOP.ke stake during the period, and they now own 1.55% of Co-op Bank. That’s more than any other individual shareholder reported at the end of August, except for the bank’s Chief Executive Gideon Muriuki.

Co-operative Bank of Kenya Ltd Group Managing Director and CEO Gideon Muriuki owns 2 per cent of the lender’s stock, including restricted stock and incentive-related shares, according to the company’s latest proxy statement available for investors to view.

In 2023, Co-op Bank paid a dividend of Ksh1.50 per share when net profit grew by 5.2 per cent to Ksh23.22 billion, and the Baloobhais could be on course to receive nearly Ksh140 million as dividend payments if they maintain their stake at the current position, assuming the bank pays the same rates this financial year.

Baloobhai has a history of buying both depressed and stable assets he can later sell at a profit, and several analysts familiar with his investments view his purchase of Co-op Bank stock as part of this strategy.

In recent years, he has acquired stakes in several prominent Kenyan companies, including Absa Bank Kenya PLC, Bamburi Cement, Carbacid Investments, Sanlam Kenya, and CIC Group, solidifying his position as one of Kenya’s biggest investors on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

In 2017, Forbes reported that his shares in publicly listed Kenyan companies alone were worth over $45 million.

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