Products Wine & Spirits Headquarters Nairobi Number of employees 235 (2015) | Website Homepage Founded 1969 Type Privately held company | |
 | ||
Industry Manufacturing & Marketing Key people Charity S. Kisotu
Chairperson
Felix Kariuki
Managing Director | ||
Kenya Wine Agencies Limited (KWAL), is a Kenyan manufacturer, importer and distributor of wine and spirits.
Contents
Overview
KWAL is a wine manufacturer, distiller, importer and distributor of alcoholic beverages, headquartered in Nairobi, with a distribution network throughout Kenya's urban centres, distribution outlets in Uganda and a subsidiary in Rwanda. As of February 2015, the company maintains five distribution centres in Kenya including Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu and Nyeri. It also operates a distribution centre in Kampala, Uganda and a wholly owned subsidiary in Kigali, Rwanda.
History
The company was founded in 1969 by the Government of Kenya, to consolidate and streamline the importation and distribution of wine and spirits in the country. The agency opened its first wholly owned winey in 1982. Initially KWAL enjoyed a monopoly, which was broken when the country's economy was liberalized. In the beginning KWAL was a 100% parastatal, owned through the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC). In 2014, the process of divestiture by the government was kick-started when 26% shareholding was sold to the South African multinational conglomerate Distell Group Limited. The Nairobi-based publicly listed equity investment firm Centum Investment Company Limited, owns a 26.43% stake in KWAL.
Ownership
As of February 2015, the shares of stock of the company are as listed in the table below:
Corporate structure
The company is owned by KWA Holdings East Africa Limited, also known as KWAL Holdings. KWAL Holdings owns a 6.25% stake in the stock of publicly traded Uchumi Supermarkets, a 100% stake in KWAL and a 100% stake in Yatta Vineyards Limited.
Recent developments
Beginning in February 2015, the Government of Kenya began the process of selling 4% ownership to the estimated 235 company employees at the time at a price of KSh34 (US$0.00378) per share. The process is expected to conclude in April or May 2015. ICDC still has a 42.65 stake to dispose of.