National Bank of Kenya shareholders have approved the conditional conversion of preference shares into ordinary shares upon the completion of a proposed buyout by KCB Group.
The offer requires that the 1,135,000,000 preference shares in the capital of the bank held by the National Treasury and National Social Security Fun be converted on a one by one basis into new ordinary shares at the completion of the take over bid.
Speaking during the firm’s 50th Annual General Meeting (AGM) yesterday, NBK Chairman Mohamed Hassan said the bank remains a strong institution with supportive shareholders and customers.
‘’The preservation of value remains the most important tenet for all the stakeholders and the board is working with management to ensure that ongoing business initiatives continue unabated,’’ Hassan said.
He explained that some of the key factors in the take-over bid include the proposal that National Bank continues to operate as a separate subsidiary of KCB and therefore service delivery to its customers will remain un-interrupted.
According to Capital Markets Regulations (Take-Overs and Mergers, 2002), NBK shareholders should receive a detailed take- over bid document by KCB in due course.
The bank’s board should then analyse the offer and give appropriate recommendations to its shareholders who will make individual decisions.
