Eveready East Africa is a Kenyan manufacturer and marketer of battery brands. It is headquartered in Nairobi, while maintaining a plant in Nakuru, Kenya.[1]
Overview
Eveready East Africa is an affiliate of the American Eveready Battery Company.[2] In addition to manufacturing and marketing batteries, Eveready East Africa also distributes a wide range of products such as shaving razors, blades and accessories under brand names Schick and Clorox household products.[3] Eveready East Africa is one of Africa's largest battery manufacturers, and is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.[4]
History
Eveready East Africa was founded on 6 March 1967 as Union Carbide Kenya Limited, a subsidiary of US based Union Carbide Corporation. In the same year, ICDC and ICDC Investments (now Centum Investments) joined in as minority shareholders.[5]
The firm's name was changed to Eveready Batteries Kenya Limited on 24 October 1986. Sameer Group acquired a majority stake in the company in 1988 through its wholly owned subsidiary East Africa Batteries.[5]
2004 saw the company diversify into other consumer products, under the Schick brand, following the acquisition of Schick-Wilkinson Sword by Energizer Holdings. In the same year, the company name was changed to its current name of Eveready East Africa.[5]
Other than battery manufacturing, Eveready East Africa has invested in real estate through its wholly owned subsidiary, Flamingo Properties. Flamingo Properties is based in Kenya, and in turn has a subsidiary, Flamingo Properties Uganda Limited, which is domiciled in Kampala, Uganda.[7]
Shareholding
The stock of Eveready East Africa is listed on the NSE, where it trades under the symbol EVRD. As of September 2015[update], the ten largest shareholders in the Group's stock are depicted in the table below:[7]
