Longhorn Kenya Limited

Overview

Longhorn Publishers Limited commonly known as Longhorn, is the largest book publisher in the East African region. Its headquarters are located in Nairobi, Kenya, with subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and distribution in Malawi and Rwanda.

History

Longhorn Kenya Limited operations commenced in Kenya in May 1965 as Longmans of Kenya a wholly owned subsidiary of Longman Group International of the United Kingdom. Its main business was selling and promotion of Longman publications published in UK. In December 1969, the company changed name to Longman Kenya Limited. It was only until the 1970s when the company began printing locally. A government decision in the early 1990s led to the ban of importation of textbooks. This initiative led to reduced margins thus led to Longman gradually reducing its shareholding in the business due to unattractive returns. In 1993, Longman UK fully divested from the company when it sold its remaining 40% shareholding to Kenyan investors including Centum Investment Company. As a result of this divestiture, the company changed its name to Longhorn Kenya Limited.

In October 1995, Longhorn incorporated Longhorn Publishers Uganda as its first foreign subsidiary in Uganda. It later incorporated Longhorn Publishers Tanzania Limited in May 2005. As a sales and promotions outfit for products developed by Longhorn Kenya. Longhorn entered the Rwanda and Malawi markets in 2009 through agents.

Longhorn shares were listed on the NSE on 30 May 2012 through Introduction. This made it the only first publishing firm to go public in an industry valued at KES 12 billion in Kenya alone.

In March 2015, The group announced its intention to re-brand Longhorn Kenya to Longhorn Publishers to give it a regional look before proceeding to cross-list its share on the Dar es Salaam, Uganda and the Rwanda Stock Exchanges.

Subsidiaries and Investments

The companies that comprise Longhorn include the following:

1. Longhorn Kenya Limited – Nairobi, Kenya - 100% Shareholding - The flagship company of the group. Offering Publishing, sales and promotions.
2. Longhorn Publishers Uganda – Kampala, Uganda - 100% Shareholding - Offering sales and promotions in Uganda.
3. Longhorn Publishers Tanzania - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - 100% Shareholding - Offering sales and promotions in Tanzania.

Ownership

The shares of the Longhorn Kenya Limited are traded on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, under the symbol: LKL. The shareholding in the company's stock as at June 30, 2016 was as depicted in the table below:

Governance

The running is overseen by a seven-person board with Francis Thombe Nyammo as the Chairman and Simon Ngigi Gachomo as the Managing Director.