Helios Investment Partners paid John Ngumi, a dealmaker, and the law firm Anjarwalla & Khanna more than Sh585m in fees for their part in a deal with the Kenyan government, in which the government bought a majority stake in Telkom Kenya for Sh6.1bn last year. This was disclosed by Paul Cunningham, a partner and CFO at Helios, as part of an ongoing investigation by a joint parliamentary committee into the deal.
Cunningham told MPs that they brought Ngumi in to help with the deal, as they anticipated issues around foreign exchange, converting shillings into dollars. Helios paid Adili Trustees, a corporate advisory firm, a small portion of the funds.
The major shareholders of Adili Trustees, Karim Saifuddin Karimbhai Anjarwalla and Atiq Saifuddin Anjarwalla, also happen to be partners at the law firm Anjarwalla & Khanna, which offered legal counsel to Helios. The former ICT Cabinet Secretary Joseph Mucheru has blamed the National Treasury and State Law Office as having a bigger role in the transaction.
Read: Reasons Why Treasury Fully Acquired Telkom Kenya
Last month, Parliament’s Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) rejected the Sh6.09bn payment the National Treasury made to Helios Investment Partners. Telkom Kenya Chairman Eddy Njoroge said that he had advised against the deal because the shares had been significantly undervalued.
The disclosure came as part of an ongoing investigation into the deal by a joint parliamentary committee. The parliamentary committee has been investigating the deal, which saw the government buy a majority stake in Telkom Kenya for Sh6.1bn last year.
The committee has heard from Helios Investment Partners’ CFO, Paul Cunningham, who revealed that Helios paid more than Sh585m in fees to John Ngumi and Anjarwalla & Khanna. The committee has also heard from former ICT Cabinet Secretary Joseph Mucheru, who has blamed the National Treasury and State Law Office for the deal. The disclosure has caused controversy, with some suggesting that the deal was not in the best interests of the Kenyan people.
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