Amana shareholders hold special session Friday amid investor woes

Asset manager Amana Capital has invited shareholders to an extraordinary general meeting Friday where they are expected to discuss a plan on how to resolve investor losses tied to a commercial paper issued by collapsed retailer Nakumatt.

Amana has stopped its clients from withdrawing their funds after investing a significant chunk of assets under management in Nakumatt.

The EGM notice also indicates that the firm will seek the nod to create a new class of shares labelled “Class C”, although the firm did not divulge what these new shares will entail and whether they are tied to the Nakumatt resolution.

“We are determined to find a solution to the effects of Nakumatt,” Amana director Graham Shaw told the Business Daily on Thursday, without divulging details on the meeting.

The fund manager in its previous communication to its clients said it was working with the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and stakeholders to ensure recovery of Sh275 million invested in the commercial paper, an amount that represented 20 percent of its assets under management.

Nakumatt defaulted on the commercial paper holders among other classes of creditors, sparking major write-offs among banks, suppliers, insurance firms and high-net-worth individuals.

In the EGM notice, Amana said the Friday meeting, to be closely watched by investors, will seek shareholder approval to extend its earlier announced 28-day freeze on the withdrawal of funds. “The agenda of the meeting shall be as follows: Update on the status of funds invested in the different class of units…seek the consent of the Class B unit holders and pass the resolution (for) extension of the moratorium period on Class B of the money market fund by a further six months up to and including 6 August 2020…and creation of Class C shares,” said the firm in a notice.

CMA earlier this month approved the block on investor withdrawals from the fund for 28-day period.