Rai Group fighting sale of ARM Cement

Kenya: Rai Group must pay a guarantee of US$62.6m to forestall the sale of Athi River Mining (ARM) Cement. The Kenyan financial services company, owned by Jaswant Rai, is backing a claim by Pradeep Paunrana against PricewaterhouseCoopers over its administration of the sale of the publically-owned ARM Cement. Paunrana, erstwhile majority shareholder and managing director of ARM Cement, is contesting the cement company’s sale in May 2019 to Nairobi Cement, a subsidiary of Devki Group, for US$48.2m including a deposit of US$9.62m. Paunrana argues that the sale was unfair because ARM Cement was misvalued, having missed opportunities to sell its fertiliser and mineral production businesses due to pressures from potential buyers. Business Daily has reported that Paunrana previously submitted an unsuccessful bid in consortium with Rai Group to buy back the company for US$62.6m, also May 2019.