If Kenyan oil marketer, Kenol Kobil, sells majority of its shares to Puma Energy; it may delist from the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE).
Key shareholders at KenKobil have already agreed to sell their shares to Puma Energy, a Swiss company.

On its part, Puma Energy is already making plans to buy shares from majority of Kenol Kobil shareholders. It is also considering a take-over after acquiring a majority stake in the NSE listed oil firm.

KenolKobil expects the sale of a majority stake to Puma Energy by key shareholders to be completed in the next few months. However, as a result of the confidentiality clauses in the agreements signed, Kenol Kobil did not reveal the top shareholders looking to sell or the stake it is keen to buy.

Addressing the issue, the CEO of Kenol Kobil, Jacob Segman, said “Should the transaction proceed, Puma Energy would comply with the regulations under the Capital Markets Act (CMA) and contemplates making a take-over to acquire all the shares in the company. If the negotiations are approved by the CMA we will have to do a general offer and in this case, delisting from the stock exchange will be one option.”
The CMA provides that any person acquiring more than 25 per cent of a listed company should declare whether they want to make a takeover or not.
“We have talked to several majority shareholders and convinced them that a strategic investor such as Puma is the best thing for the company if it is to expand and develop. We are optimistic of the negotiation process and we expect it to be complete within three months,” Segman added.

If Puma Energy does as predicted, KenolKobil will join Unilever Tea Kenya Ltd, which delisted from the NSE in 2009 after its main shareholder, Brooke Bond, bought out minority shareholders.
Although the deal is still in its formative stage, Kenol Kobil believes that with Puma Energy acquisition; it will give the company a competitive edge in a region that is receiving increased interest from multinational oil dealers like Total through strategic input and cash injection.

“We see them bringing on board a lot of assistance in supply, in trading in capital for further expansion and development. It fits very much the management strategy,” Segman said at a press conference yesterday.

Kenol Kobil is an oil company with operations in 10 countries mainly in Eastern Africa. It is looking to spread its reach in southern and central African markets, an expansion that will require heavy capital investments. It has attracted foreign investment in recent years after discoveries in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

Puma Energy on the other hand was formed in 1997 in Central America to develop a network of oil storage and distribution facilities, has more than 1,100 retail outlets spread in 29 countries across Latin America, Middle East and Africa. It made its mark in Africa through the acquisition of BP African assets for £296 million (Sh39.6 billion) in 2010.

Puma Energy, a subsidiary of Trafigura, have been purchasing assets from oil majors since last year, parallel to its peer Vitol. Last year it bought assets in Africa, central and South America from oil majors such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and BP.