KenolKobil CEO Ohana Is Said to Resign Amid Rubis Takeover

(Bloomberg) -- KenolKobil Ltd.’s Chief Executive Officer David Ohana has resigned in the midst of a takeover of the fuel retailer by Rubis SCA, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

In addition to the takeover the company had been the subject of an insider trading probe. Ohana, who’s been head of the Nairobi-listed company since 2013, was last month excused from legal proceedings over the alleged illegal activity before the Rubis deal was announced in October. Others implicated in the probe, including the executive director and chairman of a stockbroker, are facing regulatory enforcement proceedings.

While Ohana’s contract was to expire at the end of 2019, he’s now expected to hand over to a new CEO in a few weeks, the person said. KenolKobil’s Communications Manager Loise Gitonga declined to comment.

Paris-based Rubis agreed to purchase KenolKobil in a deal that valued the retailer with operations in six African markets at $353 million. It received regulatory approval last month to compulsorily acquire the remaining shares in the company that it doesn’t already own.

Ohana, who held a 5.2 percent stake in the company, had given Rubis an irrevocable undertaking to sell his shares.

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