so whats the material announcement

they warned on 'speculative trading' of their shares yesterday. what's the story?

What good does 10% of O&M do Scangroup (except for the WPP connection)?

Isn't Scangroup (in Kenya) much larger than O&M?

Or is there a potential merger?

A company sitting on cash is a dangerous company. Last I checked Scangroup had 1B in cash. When Uchumi was sitting on cash ( I think it was 600M), the directors went to town. When Access was sitting on cash, they paid top dollar for (in my opinion) irrelevant companies. I hope Thakkar does not pay a hefty premium for that stake.

GG - Your examples are flawed

1) Uchumi - Always had cash since it went public. One of favorite managers was Suresh Shah (I made good money on Uchumi when I was starting out). Shah built up Uchumi from bottom. An old mzee told me that the day Shah leaves, he will sell his shares. I sold mine as well.

Then came kirubi. Mwizi with his background in kenatco.

2) Access Kenya - I think the Somens will do OK. They need to bulk up but may have made bad choices. Overpaid for one acquisition. They have used cash + debt to expand their reach all over Nairobi. Good move.

I met Thakkar at an investment conference in 2008. What he told us (we were a group) is that ScanGroup will keep the cash UNTIL they find a suitable investment. In the meantime they will leave it in Infrastructure T-Bonds earning 13% NET AFTER TAX. He felt the premiums sellers wanted were too high.

He is right. Since SG raised the funds, the values of PR/Ads firms across Africa (Kenya is a cash cow not a growth market) has dropped.