Centum has sold its 26.43% stake in KWA Holding East Africa (KWA), one of the foremost manufacturers and distributors of spirits and wines in Kenya, to Distell International Holdings, a subsidiary of Distell Group.

South African drinks group Distell, owner of Amarula liqueur, is the leading producer of spirits, wines, ciders and ready-to-drinks in Africa.

The deal will see Distell own a majority shareholding in KWA of 52.43%, having previously purchased a 26% shareholding from Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) in 2014. 

Centum has been long invested in KWA having acquired a 26.43% shareholding in 1977 and has worked together with other shareholders and management to grow the business of KWAL steadily over the last 40 years.

KWA sold more than 8 million litres of alcoholic beverages in 2016 and owns a portfolio of popular local brands such as Kibao, Kingfisher and Caprice. 

James Mworia, Managing Director, Centum Investment, said: “The sale of our shareholding in KWA is in line with Centum’s 5 year strategy, Centum 3.0, to give other investors access to quality investment grade opportunities.” 

“The proceeds from the sale will enable us to deploy capital into developing other investment opportunities in our pipeline across Real Estate, Agribusiness, Education and Healthcare sectors,” he added. 

Mworia said that Centum is proud to continue to support Kenya’s goals to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country. 

“In addition to the FDI we attracted with this sale to Distell, last year we were able to attract over $60m in the recently launched Two Rivers Mall, the largest retail centre in East and Central Africa,” he said. 

“We expect to continue to attract further FDI through various projects such as the proposed integrated real estate development on 10,000 acres in Vipingo, Kilifi County and in Education, where Centum together with its foreign partners, SABIS and Investbridge Capital broke ground on their first school in Sub-Saharan Africa located off Kiambu Road,” he said.

“These projects show the role local businesses can play in attracting foreign direct Investment and are a demonstration of investor confidence in the economy of the region and Kenya specifically,” he concluded.

Centum is a publicly listed company on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and cross-listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange with over 36,000 shareholders.