Mike Rabar. PHOTO | COURTESY Homeboyz Entertainment Plc has officially listed its shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) market on Monday, coming just two months after founder Mike Rabar announced that it would make the move before the end of the year.
The company made its debut on the bourse by listing 63.2 million shares, becoming the first entertainment company in the country to enter the stocks market.
The directors of the company are listed as Mike Rabar (36.5 million shares), Rose Rabar (27.6 million shares) and John Rabar (20,000 shares).
On October 26, during the launch of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), Mr Rabar revealed plans to list on the NSE.
“It’s always been tough, it was never meant to be easy, but we are up to the task,” he said on Monday during the official listing ceremony.
He reminisced about creating the company from scratch from a bedroom in South B, while he was a university student selling music cassettes to other learners and matatu operators.
“Over time, Homeboyz has grown to employ over 200 young people whose livelihoods fully depend on the growth and sustenance of this informal sector. So it’s not been easy building a sustaining informal business in the environment that we are in if more so now than ever,” Mr Rabar said.
He said listing on the bourse would offer the firm a proper opportunity to improve its corporate governance, as well as supporting small businesses and the youth through investing in them and capacity building.
“This listing is a promising development in our country, it gives credence to the commitment that we have towards supporting companies explore the NSE as a venue of raising capital,” said NSE chief executive Geoffrey Odundo today.