Traders will not be able to trade Kenya Airways shares at the Nairobi Stock Market for at least three months as the process of State takeover enters a crucial stage.
On Friday 3 July, the Nairobi Securities Exchange said in a statement that KQ had applied for the suspension.
The move will see the airline’s share register closed until the resolution of its future is settled.
“The company’s operational and corporate restructure and Government buy-out is now imminent following the publication of the National Management Aviation Bill, 2020, on 18th June 2020,” said NSE.
“Consequently, the company has applied for suspension of trading in its shares and closure of its register until the resolution of its future is determined.”
The suspension has been approved by the Capital Markets Authority, a move that will see KQ’s shareholders unable to trade their shares during the period.
The suspension will take effect immediately and will remain in place up to October 3. This comes at a time when the airline shares have been experiencing a rally, defying the generally bearish bourse since the beginning of Covid-19 in mid-March.
KQ has gained by 173.57 percent in the last three months, which is the highest on the bourse – to end Thursday trading at Sh3.83.
The return of the airline to the Securities Market in the hands of the Parliament since the passage of the National Aviation Management Bill 2020 will enable the government to take back full control of the national carrier by October and delist it.
- Shock As Senator Millicent Omanga Spotted At DP Ruto’s Karen Residence
- A Kakamega Pastor Leaves Fingernail In A Minor’s Private Parts After Defiling Her
- Elegance!The Only Way to be a Classy woman in Relationship
- How Family Helped Grace Wakhungu Raise More Than 500 Million In Two Hours
The airline, which is 48.9 percent state-owned and 7.8 percent held by Air France-KLM was privatized 24 years back but sank into losses and debts in 2014.
Air-France KLM which had an option of selling its shares to the government and staying on as a technical partner of Kenya Airways opted to exit the airline.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Kenya, the national carrier has been operating only cargo flights but is hoping for a gradual resumption of passenger flights soon.
