Shareholders of REA Vipingo Plantations Ltd have approved the sale of the firm’s land at Vipingo to Centum Investments Company as agreed upon in the settlement with REA Trading Limited.
Shareholders of REA Vipingo Plantations voted in favour of the resolution at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held in Nairobi, paving way for the conclusion of the buyout by REA Trading, which already holds 57% of the sisal grower that is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
What now remains is for each individual shareholder to decide on the offer that has been put on the table by REA Trading. “As a board, we have recommended, based on an independent evaluation that we commissioned, for shareholders to accept the offer,” said the chairman of REA Vipingo Limited, Mr Oliver Fowler.
Following the offer REA Vipingo Plantations, may be de-listed from the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The offer closes on May 13, 2015 at 5pm.
The approval comes weeks after the offer resumed after REA Trading entered a negotiated settlement with Centum Investment Company Limited that had made a rival bid for REA Vipingo. REA Trading Limited is offering to buy all the ordinary shares of REA Vipingo that it does not already own at the price of Ksh70 per share plus an additional cash top-up of Ksh15 per share that it has decided that it will elect to pay immediately after the offer closes.
The CEO of REA Vipingo Plantations Limited, Neil Cuthbert said that the offer represents continuity and is good for the sisal grower’s future. “The offer will help facilitate diversification of the REA Vipingo business, which may require taking on greater financial risks than it has hitherto done. Among the areas we intend to develop into beyond the existing business is the field of energy generation, including the utilization of biomass and possibly also solar,” Mr Cuthbert added.
REA Trading has been a long-term investor in REA Vipingo Plantations and has a proven track record in managing plantations.
