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Kenyan multimillionaire businessman Joe Wanjui has filed a legal action to prevent Unilever Plc, a British multinational consumer goods company, from selling its 52-percent stake in Limuru Tea in a deal worth Ksh596.7 million ($5.1 million).
The legal action launched by the corporate titan with interests in hospitality, insurance, real estate, equity, agribusiness, and horticulture is part of a strategic attempt to become a majority shareholder in Limuru Tea, a Kenyan company engaged in green leaf tea cultivation.
According to Business Daily, Wanjui, who owns a 25.48-percent stake in the agro-allied company, wants Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to prevent Unilever from selling its 52-percent stake in Limuru Tea, claiming that minority shareholders were not given the opportunity to participate.
The businessman, who is the first Kenyan to study industrial engineering and management and a former Unilever employee, filed a complaint in a Kenyan high court with another minority investor, Wainaina Kenyanjui, accusing the multinational company of rejecting their offer to buy the 52-percent stake and instead selling the shares to CVC Capital Partners.
Wanjui and Kenyanjui revealed that CVC Capital Partners’ interests are not aligned with those of Limuru Tea and accused Unilever of making partial disclosures to the CMA in the phased restructuring of the multinational’s tea business, which culminated in the sale.
According to the court documents, “the shareholders were denied an opportunity to understand and participate in the proposed transaction, which would result in a wholly new entity holding the beneficial interest in Limuru Tea.”
Wanjui went on to say that Unilever initially structured the deal as a share transfer between related parties, claiming that the parent company knew it would eventually sell the tea business to private equity funds but failed to disclose the share-sale information to the CMA or other shareholders.
In line with his statements, he asked the court to prevent the CMA from approving the acquisition and separately petitioned the regulator to investigate the transaction and Limuru Tea’s claims of impropriety.
Wanjui, a business magnate, presidential advisor, and philanthropist with interests in hospitality, insurance, real estate, equity, agribusiness, and horticulture, was a key figure during former Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki’s administration.
He derives the majority of his wealth from his well-diversified portfolio of assets, which includes Hillpark Hotels, UAP-Old Mutual, Bawan Roses, and his 25.48-percent stake in Limuru Tea.
