Billionaire Paul Wanderi Ndung’u has resigned as chairman of the betting firm Pevans East African, which owns Sportpesa. Mr Ndung’u has a 17 percent stake in the firm.
He is the fourth-largest shareholder, with the other major shareholders being Guerassim Nikolov, a Bulgarian, with a 21 percent stake, according to information filed at the Registrar of Companies.
Naogen Investment, US, and Asenath Wachera Maina, a Kenyan, also have a 21 percent stake each. Sportpesa in late September announced it was shutting down its Kenyan operations due to what it termed as hostile regulatory and taxation regime. The firm said a 20 percent excise duty on betting stakes was the major factor that led its exit, noting that it would be absent from Kenya “until such time when adequate taxation and non-hostile regulatory environment is returned.” It was among the 27 betting firms whose licenses were not renewed by the Government owing to its non-tax compliance. A week later, in October, Sportpesa fired all the 326 employees at its Kenyan unit.
It is unclear what stage its exit from Kenya has reached. Other than his stake in the betting firm,
Tycoon Ndung’u has interests across various industries. He was one of the key dealers of Safaricom but fell out with the late Bob Collymore listed-telco. He then dumped Safaricom for Telkom Kenya. He remains Telkom’s largest dealer even as it merges with Airtel.
