Centum Investment Company Plc, commonly known as Centum is a public East African investment company. It operates as an affiliate of the

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n government-owned Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC).

Overview

Centum is a publicly owned investment company with headquarters in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

, Kenya. Its shares are listed on the

Nairobi Securities Exchange The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) was established in 1954 as the Nairobi Stock Exchange, based in Nairobi the capital of Kenya. It was a voluntary association of stockbrokers in the European community registered under the Societies Act in ...

(NSE), where they trade under the symbol: CTUM. The company shares are also cross-listed on the

Uganda Securities Exchange The Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) is the principal stock exchange of Uganda. It was founded in June 1997. The USE is operated under the jurisdiction of Uganda's Capital Markets Authority, which in turn reports to the Bank of Uganda, Uganda's ...

(USE), where they trade under the symbol "CENT". Centum is an investment channel providing investors access to a portfolio of inaccessible, quality, diversified investments. Centum's mission is to create real, tangible wealth by providing the channel through which investors access and build extraordinary enterprises in Africa. As of March 2019 Centum's total assets were KSh 101,764,000,000 (US$1,002,490,000) with shareholder's equity of KSh51,576,000,000 (US$508,083,000).

History

ICDC was founded in 1954 as a government

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

, whose primary objective was to provide a vehicle for Kenyans to invest in the economy of newly independent Kenya by investing in Kenyan companies. In 1967, ICDC formed the subsidiary ICDC Investment Company Limited, whose shares were listed on the NSE. In 1998, with the Government of Kenya having sold some of its majority shareholding, ICDC Investment Company adopted a new management structure, handing over day-to-day management to an independent professional managerial team, supervised by an independent board of directors elected by the shareholders. In 2008, the shareholders changed the name of the company to Centum Investment Company Limited. The shares of Centum Investment Company Limited have been publicly traded on the NSE since 1967 and on the USE since 10 February 2011. Over time, Centum's strategy has evolved in line with the company's growth with Centum currently in its 2014 - 2019 strategic period dubbed "Centum 3.0". Under Centum 3.0, the company maintains focus through 4 distinct business lines namely Real Estate, Private Equity, Development and Marketable Securities.

Investment Overview

Centum's investments are organised into four key verticals:

Real Estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
Portfolio

This division is involved in real estate development in Kenya and Uganda, with an eye to expanding into other countries in the African Great Lakes region. These include:
Athena Properties Limited
- 100 shareholding - A real estate management, ownership, and development company.
Two Rivers Development Limited
- 58.3 percent shareholding - 102-acre development in Kenya's diplomatic blue zone.
Vipingo Development
- 100 percent shareholding - 10,254-acre development off the Kenyan coast.
Pearl Marina
- 100 percent shareholding - 389-acre development located in Ntabo Peninsula, popularly known as Garuga, by the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda.

Private Equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...
Portfolio

This division acquires equity positions in either publicly or non-publicly-traded companies, mainly in the

African Great Lakes The African Great Lakes ( sw, Maziwa Makuu; rw, Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the second-largest fresh water lake in th ...

region, but increasingly in other parts of the continent as well. Investments under this segment include the beverage, publishing, financial services and utilities businesses. Per its March 2018 annual report, these included:

Financial Services

Nabo Capital
- 100 percent shareholding - A

fund manager Fund may refer to: * Funding is the act of providing resources, usually in form of money, or other values such as effort or time, for a project, a person, a business, or any other private or public institution ** The process of soliciting and gath ...

in Kenya.
Zohari Leasing
- 100 percent shareholding - A leasing company in Kenya.

Others

Isuzu East Africa
- 17.8 percent shareholding - A motor vehicle retailer in Kenya and the local subsidiary of American-based General Motors.
NAS Servair
- 15 percent shareholding - An on-site airport catering facility supplying over 30 International airlines that fly into and out of the

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Jomo Kenyatta International Airport , is an international airport in Nairobi, the capital of and largest city in Kenya. The other three important international airports in Kenya include the Kisumu International Airport, Moi International Airp ...

and

Moi International Airport Moi International Airport is an international airport in Mombasa, the second-largest city in Kenya. In 2020 the airport was heralded as the "Best Airport in Africa" (with under 2 million passengers annually) by Airports Council International. ...

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

. * Longhorn Publishers - 60.2 percent shareholding - A

publishing company Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

listed on the

with subsidiaries in Kenya,

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

, and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

and distribution in

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

and Rwanda.

Marketable Securities Portfolio

The Marketable Securities Portfolio comprises investments in securities and fixed income instruments managed b
Nabo Capital
The portfolio is broadly diversified across various stock exchanges in Africa and primarily invests in large and mid-capitalization equities while maintaining sizeable allocations to fixed income and cash. This segment represents 8.2% of Centum's portfolio value.

Development Portfolio

This represents investments, outside from real estate, that are still under development. the development portfolio consists of;
Greenblade Growers Limited
- 100 percent shareholding - A vertically integrated grower, processor and exporter of fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits from Kenya.
Africa Crest Education Holdings
- 16.4 percent shareholding - An investment holding company whose objective is establishing

SABIS Sabis may refer to: * SABIS, global school network * Battle of the Sabis *The river Sambre The Sambre (; nl, Samber, ) is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallon ...

® operated K-12 schools across the African continent. * Akiira Geothermal Limited - 37.5 percent shareholding - The first private sector greenfield geothermal development in Sub-Saharan Africa. * Amu Power Company - 51 percent shareholding - A power generation company.

Former investments

*In 2014, Centum exited two investment funds Helios and Nigeria-based African Capital Alliance where total investments were valued at KShs 500 million. *

Rift Valley Railways Rift Valley Railways (RVR) was a consortium established to manage the parastatal railways of Kenya and Uganda. The consortium won the bid for private management of the century-old Uganda Railway in 2005. The Kenya-Uganda railway had previously b ...

- 10 percent shareholding previously held - A consortium that was established in 2005 to manage the

Uganda Railway The Uganda Railway was a metre-gauge railway system and former British state-owned railway company. The line linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya. After a series of mergers and splits, the li ...

railways of Kenya and Uganda. This investment was exited in 2012 to Qalaa Holdings. *

UAP Holdings Old Mutual Holdings Plc, Formally known as UAP Holdings Limited, is an investment, retirement, and insurance group that operates mainly in Eastern Africa, but has plans to be a pan-African insurance company. UAP Holdings is one of the leading ins ...

- 14 percent shareholding previously held - An investment, retirement, and insurance services group that operates mainly in East Africa. Centum exited this investment in 2015 through a direct sale to

Old Mutual Old Mutual Limited is a pan-African investment, savings, insurance, and banking group. It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, the Namibian Stock Exchange and the Botswana Stock Exchange. It was founded ...

. *

Kenya Wine Agencies Limited Kenya Wine Agencies Limited (KWAL), is a first line manufacturer, importer and distributor of wine, spirits and non-alcoholic beverages History The company was founded in 1969 by the Government of Kenya, to consolidate and streamline the impor ...

- 26 percent shareholding previously held - A leading manufacturer, distributor, and importer of wines and spirits in East Africa. This investment exited this investment in 2017 through a direct sale to Distell. * Carbacid Investments - 22 percent shareholding previously held - A manufacturer and marketer of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...

gas for industrial and medical use as well as

dry ice Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. It is commonly used for temporary refrigeration as CO2 does not have a liquid state at normal atmospheric pressure and sublimates directly from the solid state to the gas state. It is used primarily ...

. This investment ended in 2011.
GenAfrica Asset Managers
- 73.4 percent shareholding - The second largest fund manager in Kenya. This investment was exited in 2018. * Aon Insurance Brokers - 22 percent shareholding - An insurance brokerage and consulting services company and the Kenyan subsidiary of

Aon Plc Aon PLC () is a British-American multinational financial services firm that sells a range of risk-mitigation products, including Commercial Risk, Investment, Wealth and Reinsurance solutions, as well as boutique strategy consulting through Aon ...

.This investment was exited in 2016. *Platcorp Holdings - Owner of Platinum Credit. 45 percent shareholding. A short term financing company with subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. This investment was exited in 2018. * Almasi Beverages Limited - 53.8 percent shareholding - The second largest

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

bottling franchise in Kenya. * Nairobi Bottlers - 27.6 percent shareholding - The largest of the Coca-Cola franchises in Kenya. *King Beverage Limited - 100 percent shareholding - Sole distributor for

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

beer manufacturer Carlsberg brands and select

Edrington Edrington is a medieval estate occupying the lower part of Mordington parish in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders, Scotland, west of Berwick-upon-Tweed. From probably the 14th century, if not earlier, a castle occupied the steep hill above the ...

Products and Grays spirits in Kenya. * Sidian Bank - 77 percent shareholding - A

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with co ...

in Kenya, licensed by the

Central Bank of Kenya The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) ( sw, Banki Kuu ya Kenya) is the monetary authority of Kenya. Its head office is located in Nairobi. CBK was founded by in 1966 after the dissolution of East African Currency Board (EACB). Dr. Patrick Ngugi Njoroge ...

, the national banking regulator. The bank was sold to

Access Bank Group Access Bank Group is a financial services conglomerate, headquartered in Nigeria, with subsidiaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ...

of Nigeria in June 2022, for US$37 million and merged into Access Bank Kenya.

Ownership

As of 31 March 2018, the company stock was owned by corporate entities and individuals. The ten largest shareholders are listed in the table below:

References

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External links

Centum Homepage
As of 29 September 2017.

Companies based in Nairobi Conglomerate companies of Kenya Financial services companies established in 1967 Companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange Companies listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange Kenyan companies established in 1967