Carbacid Investments and Aksaya Investments LLP have made a joint bid to acquire 100% stake in BOC Kenya for Ksh1.2 billion at the rate of Ksh63 per share.
In a cautionary notice, the BOC board informed the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and shareholders that BOC Holdings which holds 65.38% stake in BOC Kenya has communicated its position to the interested party of its desire to accept the offer if certain conditions are met.
“The offer is subject to there being n reduction of more than 15% in the net asset value of the company as at 31 December 2019,” read the notice.
“The co-offerors have chosen to make the offer as they believe that the combination of BOC’s product portfolio and services with Carbacid’s existing business is an excellent match that will position the enlarged group to become the East and Central African region’s supplier of choice for industrial, medical and special gases and related equipment services,” Carbacid said in a notice.
Carbacid is the largest carbon dioxide industry in Africa. If the deal goes through, it will boast of the biggest industrial gases operation in the continent.
At the centre of the transaction is Mr Baloobhai Patel who together with his wife Amarjeet Patel own 45% in Carbacid.
Mr Patel also owns a 99% stake in Aksaya Investments LLP, the partnership that is working with Carbacid to buy out BOC.
In 2005, BOC had attempted to acquire a majority stake in Carbacid but the deal fell through after the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the transaction, citing breach of terms by the proposed acquirer.
BOC might have been tempted into a sale due to the proliferation of players in the market that has made it increasingly difficult to control prices in the market.
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