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A London court has ordered Kenyan businessman Paul Wanderi Ndung’u to pay about Sh374 million ($2.9 million) in interim legal costs after he failed to convince a judge to unwind a years long dilution of his stake in SportPesa Global Holdings.
The ruling is the latest turn in an ugly boardroom split between Ndung’u and former partners who helped build the SportPesa brand into one of East Africa’s best known betting names before regulatory pressure and tax changes reshaped the industry.
Court records show Ndung’u’s shareholding in SportPesa Global Holdings, known as SGHL, fell to about 0.85% from 17% between 2019 and 2022 after three rights issues totaling £1.9 million. He argued the fundraising was engineered to edge out Kenyan shareholders and that company minutes and communications were manipulated to lock him out.
The court did not accept the core allegation of a deliberate scheme. The judge found there were breaches of UK company law rules around pre emption rights and how offers should be communicated, but said the failures were inadvertent rather than a conspiracy to strip Ndung’u of his stake.
The costs order requires Ndung’u to pay £548,000 to the company and £1.6 million to several co owners and directors by 4 p.m. on Jan. 9, 2026. Interest also applies and rises sharply after that date, a structure that could push the bill higher if the fight continues.
The directors expecting payment include Bulgarian nationals Ivaylo Bozoukov, Kalina Karadzhova and Guerassim Nikolov, as well as American shareholder Gene Grand, according to the court and related reporting.
The dispute traces back to 2019, when SportPesa’s Kenyan operation halted after a steep increase in betting taxes squeezed cash flows. A financial crunch followed at the parent company, prompting emergency capital calls in October 2019, December 2019 and December 2021 to keep the business afloat.
Ndung’u and fellow Kenyan shareholder Asenath Wacera did not take up the early offers, and their holdings were diluted as other investors increased theirs. Ndung’u said he was not properly notified of key meetings and claimed the first offer letter arrived after its deadline, sent to an address he had not designated for company communications.
He later offered to contribute funds on the basis that his stake remained 17%, a position the company rejected because his percentage had already fallen after earlier rounds. The judge said the company did not deliberately send notices to a wrong address and concluded there was no credible evidence of forged minutes or falsified board communications.
Ndung’u has also pursued parallel battles closer to home, including disputes over control and use of the SportPesa brand and related assets in Kenyan proceedings. That broader fight has kept the company’s ownership story in the headlines even as SportPesa continues operating in the region through shifting corporate structures.
The London order increases pressure on Ndung’u because the other side can seek enforcement in the UK and Kenya, including action against assets if payments are missed. Another court date could follow if appeals and enforcement applications move ahead, but the immediate deadline now sits on the calendar, with the price tag already in the hundreds of millions of shillings.
