• The company has been the subject of an insider trading probe
• Ohana held a 5.2 per cent stake in the company
Image: PATRICK VIDIJA
CEO of oil marketing company Kenol Kobil David Ohana has resigned from the company, reports from Bloomberg indicate. His contract was due to end this year.
The company has been the subject of an insider trading probe and is also undergoing a takeover by French firm Rubis SCA.
Paris-based Rubis agreed to buy KenolKobil in a deal that valued the retailer with operations in six African markets at $353 million (Sh35.64 billion.)
It received regulatory approval in March to compulsorily acquire the remaining shares in the company that it doesn’t already own.
Ohana, who held a 5.2 per cent stake in the company, had given Rubis an irrevocable undertaking to sell his shares.
Last month, Capital Markets Authority recovered Sh458 million from KenolKobil after reports of insider trading led to an investigation. CMA said it established that a number of investors had been advised and encouraged to buy KenolKobil shares before Rubis Energie publicly declared its interest in taking over the oil marketer at a premium.
“The investigations relating to the balance of the accounts flagged in connection with suspicious trading activities are ongoing,” read the statement in March.
The CMA Board further said it will initiate enforcement proceedings against top executives of Kestrel Capital including Andre DeSimone, the chairman, and Charles field-Marsham, the founder. DeSimone has since resigned.