Kenya's Vehicle and Equipment Leasing Limited (VAELL) - a vehicle leasing firm - is planning to list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) early next year through an IPO.
According to Business Daily, VAELL’s Chairman Joseph Kizza said that the firm had already hired a consultant to guide the IPO. The company is targeting to raise Sh1 billion (~$9.7 million). This will give the "firm greater managerial autonomy to advance its growth strategy.”
The firm, which launched operations in 2006 mainly leases vehicles to the government and corporate bodies. It realised a turnover of Sh1.418 billion and a 20 per cent rise in profits last year.
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Vaell also owns Kenya’s equipment sharing platform, Quipbank and TingA, a tractor sharing platform. Additionally, they also have subsidiaries in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia.
The NSE hasn't had activity from local companies in recent times. Therefore, Vaell's will be the first time in nearly four years a local firm has listed its shares. Since NSE’s self-listing in 2014.
Although the NSE planned to list four new firms this year, only Bank of Kigali Group has been cross-listed so far. The Rwandese lender listed last week trading at a reserve price of Sh30.
In October this year, Bloomberg reported that betting firm SportPesa was looking to list to on the NSE. Though, the company played down the speculations.