The Board of Directors of Cytonn Investments Management Limited is pleased to announce the conversion of CYTONN INVESTMENTS MANAGEMENT LIMITED from a private company to a public company and the consequent change of name to CYTONN INVESTMENTS MANAGEMENT PLC.
The conversion allows our shareholders to freely transfer their shares and hold the company to the highest standards of corporate governance; as a public company, Cytonn Investments will hold itself to the highest level of corporate governance standards as prescribed in the Capital Markets Authority’s Code of Corporate Governance Practices for Issuers of Securities to the Public, 2015 and the Companies Act 2015.
Commenting on the conversion into a public company, Patricia Wanjama, Partner and Company Secretary, said that “the conversion is amongst the many steps taken by Cytonn Investments to adhere to and promote high standards of corporate governance. Even as a private company, we have held Annual General Meetings for our Shareholders, publish our audited financial statements in the newspapers, we share regular investors updates and hold investor forums, we have a strong board with all the relevant committees, we recently held a corporate governance training for our board facilitated by Strathmore University, and have also recently beefed up our board with several outstanding board appointments both at the group level and in our real estate project entities, all of which have
separate boards to protect the interest of each project and its investors.”
“We have also made a contribution to promoting good corporate governance in the market through our annual Cytonn Corporate Governance Ranking Report”, added Patricia. The Cytonn Corporate Governance Report ranks companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange with a market capitalization of over Kshs. 1.0 Billion, using the same 24 metrics, which revolve around disclosures, board composition, board meetings attendance, transparency and independence.
Commenting on the conversion to a public company, Edwin H. Dande, Chief Executive Officer said that “for Cytonn Investments, the conversion is part of our continuing enhancement of corporate governance at the firm. If you look at the recent significant losses that investors have incurred in situations such as Uchumi, Nakumatt, Kenya Airways, Chase Bank, Imperial Bank, and Mumias Sugar, the common theme has been a failure of corporate governance. At Cytonn, we shall continue to hold ourselves to the highest levels of corporate governance for the interests of our investors.”
Cytonn Investments has grown tremendously since its inception, however the key objective of delivering innovative and differentiated solutions that speak to our clients’ needs has not waivered. The same view has been adopted in terms of Corporate Governance with a view towards ensuring shareholder rights and investor protection. We have had, and will continue innovating various systems and processes of accountability, by designing client disclosures and actions that are consistent with both the clients’ needs and the regulatory agenda.
The change will not affect any of the rights of the existing shareholders or the Company's daily business operations. All existing share certificates of the Company in issue bearing the former name of the Company will continue to be evidence of legal title to such shares and will continue to be valid.
We request all stakeholders to take note of the above change.
