This archive report was first published on 29 August 2019.
On August 29, 2019, the High Court in Nairobi threw out a case challenging the planned buyout of the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) by KCB Group. The case, filed by Evans Aseto and John Kiptoo, had raised several concerns, including the lack of an audit to verify NBK's losses and the absence of Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) backing.
However, Justice Weldon Korir dismissed the case, stating that the allegations were speculative and not supported by evidence. He also noted that the petitioners had failed to disclose what unique services NBK was providing that would not be available in the merged entity.
The judge further observed that NBK's books had not been audited by the Auditor-General to determine the true value of the intended share swap. The petitioners had also claimed that efforts by Parliament's Public Investments Committee (PIC) to investigate the matter had proven futile.
Despite these claims, the High Court ruled in favor of KCB Group, paving the way for the buyout to proceed. The deal involves KCB buying NBK's 100% ordinary shares, which will see NBK delist from the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and the conversion of 1,135,000,000 preference shares to new ordinary shares.
