The Kenyatta and Ndegwa families have gained $166 million since agreeing to sell NCBA

The Kenyan families selling control of NCBA to Nedbank have made 21.4 billion shillings, about $166 million, before the transaction has even closed.

The gain comes from the currency the South African bank is paying in. Nedbank is buying 66% of NCBA under a hybrid structure, settling 80% of the price in its own shares and 20% in cash, and its stock has risen since the terms were fixed in January. Sellers will receive 43.63 million Nedbank shares at a conversion rate of 4.02994 for every 100 NCBA shares.

Nedbank shares have gone from 274 rand to 300 rand on the Johannesburg exchange since the offer was announced on Jan. 21, a rise of 9.5%. Because the conversion rate was set at a discount, the gain accruing to NCBA sellers is larger at 19.5% in rand terms. The stock they are receiving was valued at 84.1 billion shillings at conversion and is now worth 105.5 billion.

They can take it or bank it. Sellers may keep the Nedbank shares for dividends and future appreciation, or sell immediately and realise the gain.

Two families dominate the register. First Chartered Securities, the Ndegwa family vehicle, holds 14.94% or 246.14 million shares. Enke Investments, associated with the Kenyattas, holds 13.2% or 217.49 million, and Muhoho Kenyatta holds a further 12.75 million directly. Both families committed to sell 66% of their positions, which alone guaranteed Nedbank a minimum 51.2% before any other investor participated.

That commitment means the Ndegwas are selling at least 162.46 million shares and the Kenyattas 143.54 million through Enke plus 8.4 million from Muhoho's personal holding. Between them the two families stood to receive about 22 billion shillings from the cash and stock, and the figure may be higher.

The reason it may be higher is that the offer was oversubscribed. Investors initially tendered 920.65 million shares, or 55.88% of the bank, short of what Nedbank wanted. Participants then offered a further 395.7 million shares, and Nedbank rejected 228.99 million of them to hold itself to exactly 66%. If either family was among those putting up extra shares, it has ceded more of the bank than it originally planned.

The premium on the sale itself is substantial. The 1.087 billion shares Nedbank is acquiring were worth 100 billion shillings on the Nairobi Securities Exchange on Thursday. The sellers are receiving 128.7 billion.

The share price has been running for almost a year. NCBA traded at 69.50 shillings until Oct. 14, 2025, when Bloomberg reported that South Africa's Standard Bank was exploring an acquisition through its Kenyan subsidiary Stanbic Holdings. It reached 96.25 shillings within a week. Nedbank's January offer pushed it to a record 98.25 before it settled back to 92.

The Central Bank of Kenya approved the transaction on Monday, and completion is set for early October. Nedbank says most regulatory approvals are now in hand and the remainder are expected by the end of this quarter.

NCBA is Kenya's fifth-largest bank by assets and reported full-year net income of about 23.3 billion shillings, up 6.9% from 21.8 billion. It was created in 2019 by merging Commercial Bank of Africa, associated with the family of founding president Jomo Kenyatta, with NIC Group, associated with the family of former central bank governor Philip Ndegwa.