To show you how he did it in Uchumi read the extract will give the link in sec. Part of the major downfall of uchumi, He offloaded so much shares of uchumi the stock market at that time reeled from the volumes. If u remember well, on 1st June 2006 what happened to Uchumi? No need to second guess.

April 11, 2006

The East African (Nairobi)
April 11, 2006
By Peter Munaita
Naushad Merali's Sameer Group has exited from the shareholding of Uchumi Supermarkets Ltd three months after acquiring a 10 per cent stake in the retail chain.

It is a major change in the plans of the group because the expectation all along was that Merali's group had set its eyes on playing the anchor shareholder in the company.

Although the group has not explained the reasons for their exit, it is being viewed against the background of failure by the company to wrest enough board seats in the company.

It is understood that upon acquring 10 per cent of the company, the group had hoped to clinch two board positions and possibly the chairmanship.

During a recent board meeting, the chairmanship went to a former Kenya Commercial Bank general manager Albert Ruturi. Mr Ruturi took over from Dr Eddah Gachukia, who however remained a member of the board.

Sameer's representative in the board, Akif Hamid Butt, tendered his resignation from the board. Mr Butt, the group's finance director, had been nominated to the board by Yana Trading Ltd, one of the group's subsidiaries.

Consequently, a statement signed by the supermarket chain's company secretary, Waweru Mathenge, sent to the Nairobi Stock Exchange confirmed the changes in the directorships.

Following the changes in the board, pundits predicted that the Merali group may dispose of a large chunk of their shares in the company as a form of protest.

Cynics predicted that such a move would see the market price of the shares fall by big margins. But as it turned out, the Uchumi stock held on even after the Merali group disposed of its shareholding - reflecting the support and goodwill which the company still wields in the marketplace. The stock has maintained its market price at between Ksh15 (21 US cents) and Ksh16 (22 US cents) per share compared with the Ksh16.50 per share, at which Sameer sold its 10 million shares during the week ending March 24.

Mr Merali was expected to make a spirited bid for an additional 11 million shares of Uchumi Supermarkets that were to be disposed of by the Kenya Wine Agencies Ltd (KWAL), but with a now not-so-friendly board, he may be forced to look elsewhere.

Sources told The EastAfrican that one other reason why the Merali group pulled out was the realisation that the government was undecided on whether to offload a further 10 million shares in Uchumi held by KWAL.

The additional stake was critical since it would have doubled Sameer's holding in the company, giving it a springboard to acquire the strategic 25 per cent holding that would prompt a takeover bid. The stake would also have given the group two seats on the board and probably the chairmanship as the anchor shareholder.

Sameer Group spent Ksh272 million ($3.7 million) in purchasing two huge blocks in Uchumi disposed of by ICDC Investments Company (ICDCI) in January. The group had to brave stiff opposition to get the last block of six million shares, being forced to pay a 25 per cent premium above the then market price of Ksh15.40 to clinch the deal.

Merali's interest in becoming the anchor shareholder in Uchumi fell within his proven pattern of acquiring underperforming stocks, improving their returns and market presence and then offloading them for a fortune (READ Screwing guys in the process) as was recently evident with the East African Cables Ltd, which was sold to Transcentury in 2003.