- Kenya’s Athi River Mining Cement PLC administrators have called for a creditors meeting to discuss liquidator’s acts and dealings.
- The Company was placed under Administration effective 17 August 2018 and subsequently placed in liquidation effective 1 October 2021.
- Creditors entitled to attend the meeting are entitled to appoint a proxy to attend and ask questions on their behalf.
Kenya’s Athi River Mining Cement PLC administrators have called for a creditors meeting to discuss liquidator’s acts and dealings, and the conduct of the liquidation during the preceding year.
The Company was placed under Administration effective 17 August 2018 and subsequently placed in liquidation effective 1 October 2021.
“Section 413 (1) of the Act provides that, if the liquidation of the Company continues for a period of twelve months or more, the Liquidator shall convene a meeting of the Creditors. In line with the above, notice is therefore hereby given that a Meeting of the Creditors of ARM Cement PLC (In Liquidation), will be held virtually on Tuesday, 31 January 2023 at 10.00 a.m. – 12.00 p.m. East African Time,” said Liqidator Goerge Weru.
Creditors wishing to participate in the meeting should register for the meeting by dialing *483*302# on all networks and follow the various prompts regarding the registration process; or sending an email request to be registered to info@comp-rite.com.
Creditors with registered email addresses will receive a registration link via email through which they can use to register. Creditors with registered telephone numbers will receive a short message service (SMS) prompting them to register for the meeting.
“Creditors wishing to raise any questions or clarifications regarding the meeting may do so by dialing the USSD code above and selecting the option (ask Question) on the prompts (For Creditors who will have registered to participate in the meeting), sending their written questions by email to info@comp-rite.com. To the extent possible, physically delivering their written questions to Comp-rite Kenya Limited at 2nd Floor, Muthaiga MiniMarket, Limuru Road; or sending their written questions by registered post to Comp-rite Kenya Limited at P.O. Box 63428, 00619 Nairobi,” Weru announced in a notice.
Creditors entitled to attend the meeting are entitled to appoint a proxy to attend and ask questions on their behalf. A proxy need not be a member of the Company.
The appointed proxy will need access to a mobile telephone. A proxy must be signed by the appointer or his attorney duly authorized in writing. If the appointer is a body corporate, the instrument appointing the proxy shall be given under its common seal or under the hand of an officer or duly authorized attorney of such body corporate.
The meeting will be streamed live via a link which shall be provided to all Creditors who will have registered to participate in the meeting. Duly registered Creditors and proxies will receive a short message service (SMS/USSD) prompt on their registered mobile numbers, 24 hours prior to the meeting acting as a reminder of the meeting.
A second SMS/USSD prompt shall be sent three hours ahead of the meeting reminding duly registered Creditors and proxies that the meeting will begin in three hours’ time and providing a link to the live stream.
Ahead of the meeting, the Liquidators will circulate a report to creditors by COB Tuesday, 24 January 2023.
“The Liquidators have also been making distributions to creditors in relation to their claims as submitted in the Administration/ Liquidation of the Company. Any creditor that has not received at least two dividend distributions should bring this to the attention of the liquidators through ke_arm.administrators@pwc.com,” Weru explained.
ARM Cement was placed under administration after it had racked up Sh14 billion in debt and had negative equity of $24 million at the time. The firm was founded by the Pradeep Paunrana family in 1974
The creditors opted for a sale of the firm’s assets to raise funds to settle the dues, effectively ending the family’s 40-year hold on the firm despite a last-ditch effort by Paunrana to cobble together a financial package to acquire the assets.
The Kenyan assets were sold to National Cement Company, owned by billionaire businessman Narendra Raval for $50 million, while those of the Tanzanian subsidiary known as Maweni Limestone were sold for $119 mbillion to Chinese firm Huaxin Cement.