Other Safaricom shareholders traded 2.5 million shares on the same day, bringing the total turnover on the counter to 6.012 billion shares.

KCB Capital acted on behalf of the seller, the National Treasury, while Stanbic Holdings’ subsidiary, SBG Securities, was the buyer’s broker.

Each of the brokers received a commission of one percent from its client, according to industry sources.

“Brokerage commission for such a transaction is not standard but negotiated. Corporates are charged between one to 1.5 percent. Word is they charged one percent on this,” said a source.

Vodacom also purchased a separate five percent from its parent Vodafone Group Plc, but this trade was not conducted on the NSE, being an internal restructuring between the related companies.

Stockbrokers earn a commission of up to 1.78 percent for transactions below Sh100,000, with large deals such as the Vodacom transaction executed at a discounted rate.

KCB Capital declined to disclose the commission it earned from the government, but players in the industry placed it at one percent of the transaction.

The National Treasury owns 19.76 percent of KCB Group –the parent company of the investment bank.

South African firm Vodacom spent a total of Sh312.6 billion to increase its stake in Safaricom to 55 percent from the previous 35 percent in the transactions that cut the government’s shareholding in the telco to 20 percent.

Besides the Sh204.3 billion paid for the government’s 15 percent stake bought on the market, Vodacom paid an advance dividend of Sh40.2 billion to the National Treasury. This brought the total payout to the government to Sh244.5 billion.

Concurrently, Vodacom bought a five percent stake in Safaricom from its parent firm Vodafone at the same price of Sh34 per share for a total of Sh68.1 billion.

Besides the stockbrokerage commission, the government and Vodacom paid statutory fees to market agencies amounting to 0.36 percent.

This equates to Sh735.1 million for each party in this transaction, amounting to a Sh1.47 billion windfall for regulators and other agencies involved.

This places the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), Central Depository & Settlement Corporation (CDSC), and the NSE in line for hundreds of millions each.

The CMA and the NSE charge a 0.12 percent levy on each transaction, putting them in line to collect Sh489.6 million each from the deal.
CDSC charges a transaction levy of 0.08 percent, putting the company in line to pocket Sh326.4 million.

Besides the levies, guarantee funds run by the CMA and CDSC will each receive Sh40.8 million based on a deduction of 0.01percent on each transaction.

Previously, such large transactions, which are normally carried out off-market, were not recorded as part of a day’s turnover, denying investors visibility over potentially significant share transfers by large shareholders.

The NSE set up the block trade board in 2023 on the main market segment to handle the sale of shares whose value exceeds Sh3 billion and constitutes five percent or more of an issuer’s total issued shares.

Execution of the block trade pushed SBG Securities and KCB Capital to the top ranks of brokers by equity traders, with the two accounting for 88.2 percent of trades conducted in June.

Sterling Investment Bank was poised to rank top with transactions worth Sh15 billion, followed by EFG Hermes Kenya and Kestrel Capital — but the Safaricom trade shifted the market share, which indicates the commissions earned by different players.

Increased corporate activity at the securities market has seen brokers pocket huge commissions after years of flat earnings.

KCB Capital is among the top beneficiaries, with the investment bank having also facilitated other large deals such as the listing of the dollar-denominated property fund TRIFIC I-Reit in which it was the transaction advisor, lead arranger and placement agent.

The investment bank is also behind Taarifa Limited’s ongoing purchase of a 54 percent stake in Nation Media Group and advised on Amsons Group’s full buyout of Bamburi Cement in a 23.6 billion deal that was completed in 2024.

The firm is also shepherding the 68.3 percent buyout of East African Cables by Cables Experts Limited.

Faida Investment Bank, the lead transaction advisor for the Sh106.3 billion Kenya Pipeline Company initial public offering, pocketed Sh1.16 billion for the successful listing in March.

The transactions include the listing by introduction of Family Bank shares last month, which earned the lead transaction advisor Standard Investment Bank Sh8.5 million.

The ongoing purchase of an additional 16.5 percent stake in Absa Bank Kenya by its parent Absa Group at an estimated Sh30.9 billion in the open market is also expected to lift stockbrokers’ earnings.

Diageo’s sale of its 65 percent stake in East African Breweries in a Sh300 billion deal to Japan’s Asahi Group could also be a major windfall for stockbrokers if executed on the block trade market.

Besides stockbrokers and regulatory agencies, professionals who benefit from the increased corporate activity at the bourse include legal advisors, auditors, share registrars and public relations firms that market the deal.