U.S. firm Seaboard still seeking to delist Kenya's Unga

Seaboard

27/07/2018 09:09

NAIROBI, July 27 (Reuters) - U.S. hog producer Seaboard
Corporation  SEB.A  will still seek to delist Unga Group
 UNGA.NR  despite failing to buy out minority shareholders in
the Kenyan agro-processing firm, it said on Friday.
    In February, Seaboard offered to buy the 46.15 percent of
Unga's shares that are held by minority shareholders and listed
on the Nairobi bourse in order to take the company private. 
    But it did not meet its goal of buying out three quarters of
the minority shareholders.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1UG1MO
    "Seaboard has decided to waive the minimum acceptance
threshold and intends to complete the acquisition of the shares
for which acceptances have been received," it said in a notice
published in the Daily Nation newspaper. 
    Some of the listed shares are owned by a local group of
investors via a vehicle called Victus Ltd, which supports
Seaboard's goal of buying out minority shareholders and
delisting the firm.
    Seaboard, which had about 2 percent of Unga before the offer
with Victus which has a 50.93 percent stake, needed to acquire
three-quarters of the total issued share capital to be able to
take Unga private.
    Market participants said Unga, whose businesses range from
wheat and maize milling to baking and animal nutrition products,
faced growing competition from unlisted companies, hence the
desire to take it private and operate on a similar footing.

 (Reporting by Duncan Miriri
Editing by George Obulutsa and Edmund Blair)
 ((duncan.miriri@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +254 20 4991239;
Reuters Messaging:
duncan.miriri.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))