HomeBoyz Entertainment Limited has announced plans to list its shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) this year, after close to 20 years in business.
Homeboyz founder and group chief executive, Michael Rabar, said on Monday that the entertainment firm has achieved enough success to warrant listing on the bourse, noting that the move would be a first for the company.
"In the past 20 years of our existence, the company has now grown to employ over 200 young people whose livelihoods fully depend on the growth and sustenance of the entertainment industry. It’s not been easy sustaining business in the current prevailing environment, especially being in the Jua Kali sector," Mr Rabar said.
He was speaking at the Bomas of Kenya during the official launch of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report, while representing members of the Jua Kali sector.
Mr Rabar said the company had been successful in its expansion, indicating that this was possible through hard work, commitment and an enabling environment.
"Despite the challenges we have to state today that by the end of this year, we shall be listing on the NSE. The move will be the first of its kind being a business in the Jua Kali sector," he said.
Homeboyz was started in 1992 as a small DJ agency catering for weddings and house parties. Mr Rabar said that they also sold music cassettes to matatu operators, but that now the firm has grown to have a strong presence in the media and sports sectors.
Last year, Homeboyz became the first entertainment company to join Ibuka, the NSE’s business incubation programme.
NSE chief executive Geoffrey Odundo termed Homeboyz as a high-growth company with with a solid strategy for its growth.
Ibuka is an 18-month programme mooted by NSE to nurture family-owned companies and other locally owned firms to formalise their operations as well as books ahead of listing with incorporation of a board to enhance governance.