Longhorn investors give nod to sale of land, law books arm

Longhorn chief executive officer Simon Ngigi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

What you need to know:

  • Longhorn, which plans to raise some Sh500 million from the land located in Nairobi’s Industrial Area, says 99.73 per cent of shareholders approved the proposed transaction last Friday.
  • The move to sell the property came after Centum Investment Company raised its ownership in the publisher to a controlling 60.2 per cent stake.

Majority of Longhorn Publishers’ shareholders voted in favour of selling the company’s headquarters at the latest annual general meeting (AGM) after a similar resolution was shot down in the previous gathering.

The AGM also approved the sale of the majority stake in LawAfrica Publishing Ltd, which Longhorn acquired just over a year ago.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm, which plans to raise some Sh500 million from the land located in Nairobi’s Industrial Area, says 99.73 per cent of shareholders approved the proposed transaction last Friday.

Those who opposed the approval of the land sale stood at 0.12 per cent while votes withheld was recorded at 0.15 per cent.

Longhorn did not say whether the voting was by shareholding strength or show of hands. At the previous AGM, the proposal was defeated after most of the individual shareholders present voiced their objection.

This marked a rare rejection of general or special resolutions for a firm.

The move to sell the property came after Centum Investment Company raised its ownership in the publisher to a controlling 60.2 per cent stake.

Longhorn says it intends to rent space for its head office operations and will use proceeds from the property sale to fund its local and regional expansion.

“There is much more we can achieve if we get the funds we are seeking from the sale of this land,” Longhorn CEO Simon Ngigi told the Business Daily in a recent interview.