Ngunze set to finalise KQ assignment in two weeks
Kenya Airways board adviser and ex-CEO Mbuvi Ngunze. photo | DIANA NGILA | nmg
What you need to know:
- Former CEO Mbuvi Ngunze was retained to assist in closing key talks with creditors and stakeholders.
Former Kenya Airways chief executive Mbuvi Ngunze is set to complete his advisory job at the national carrier in a fortnight, following the conclusion of the airline’s balance sheet restructuring.
Mr Ngunze, who was replaced as CEO by Polish national Sebastian Mikosz, was retained to assist in closing critical negotiations with creditors and stakeholders to keep the airline afloat.
The capital restructuring negotiations came to a close on Tuesday night after all parties signed on the dotted line, prompting Mr Ngunze to announce his imminent departure from the airline.
“We are just wrapping up the paperwork. In the next week or so my job is done,” Mr Ngunze told the Business Daily in an interview Wednesday.
His departure was first announced late last year when KQ chairman Michael Joseph disclosed that he would be replaced in March 2017, after two years in charge.
The former CEO stayed on to allow the national carrier more time to search for a new boss. Mr Mikosz was later unveiled and his first day of work set as June 1.
Mr Ngunze was, however, asked to stay on until the end of July to, in collaboration with Mr Joseph, help the new boss gain an understanding of the business.
The former CEO was retained as an adviser on the recapitalisation deal, remaining a key figure until its conclusion, as was investment secretary Esther Koimett and Festus King’ori, the alternate to the Treasury principal secretary on KQ’s board.
“It has been such a complex deal so I will take three months off, then decide what to do. I will take the time to reflect on my life, my career and my next move,” said Mr Ngunze.
The Treasury and 10 local banks on Tuesday night signed the conversion of their combined Sh44.2 billion debt into shares, diluting existing shareholders’ stakes by about 95 per cent.
KLM, which was until the deal KQ’s second largest shareholder with a 26.2 per cent stake, has also been diluted massively down to 7.8 per cent despite committing Sh2.7 billion in in-kind contributions.
Retail shareholders will own a 5.2 per cent stake of the financially-strained airline.
