Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro has bought a 9.76 per cent holding in Olympia Capital Holding (OCH) through his vehicle Limpopo Capital Limited, acquiring 3,982,253 shares worth KSh29.8 million and becoming the third largest shareholder.

Nyoro said he wants to raise his holding to 25 per cent, the level that would allow him to announce a bid to take over the Nairobi bourse-listed firm, and added that he would sell the current stake for a profit if the bid fails.

“I started buying OCH in 2025. I thought I’d get enough supply to at least 25 per cent, but liquidity of the share is low. What I need to do with it can only happen when we have a higher shareholding. If it’s difficult, then we’ll exit,” he told Business Daily.

He also said the plan is to turn OCH into “some kind of Berkshire Hathaway – an investment Company”.

OCH, formerly Dunlop Kenya, is a holding company for six subsidiaries operating in Kenya, Botswana and South Africa that manufacture construction products, cleaning chemicals, water pumps and fire-prevention equipment and hold real-estate interests.

The group’s profit fell to KSh10.45 million last year from KSh10.45 million, a decline of 40.9 per cent, and it has not paid dividends for the past five years.

OCH owns glue producer Dunlex Adhesives and a 46 per cent stake in rubber company Avon, which also has real-estate holdings; in Botswana it is involved in tile production, real-estate and cleaning chemicals, while in South Africa it operates in logistics.

Management said expansion was paused for three years while the board was restructured and that “we could not responsibly scale manufacturing when our cost of production was running at levels that made expansion unviable”.

It added that “through better supplier agreements and securing a more consistent supply chain, we have materially improved our manufacturing cost structure, and we are now confident we can grow manufacturing significantly”.

UK-based Dunlop Properties Limited remains the largest shareholder with a 6.2 per cent stake, while Paul Wanderi Ndung’u holds 12 per cent, Mobicom Kenya Limited 1.12 per cent and billionaire Joel Kibe 2 per cent.

Asteria Company, which had a three per cent holding, exited the top-owner list in the last 12 months, indicating Nyoro accumulated his shares on the open market.

Shadrack Manyinsa, senior research analyst at Pergamon Investment Bank, described the purchase as speculative, noting that “on the asset side, it is discounted, but the earnings are not so good” and that profits are falling but could improve with strategic investment.

Nyoro, a former stockbroker, previously invested KSh56 million in Kenya Power in 2023 to buy 32.5 million shares at an average of KSh1.58, becoming the utility’s largest individual shareholder; his stake is now valued at KSh468.7 million with the share trading at KSh21.8.

Earlier this year he invested KSh49.2 million in Kenya Airways, becoming its second largest individual shareholder, and the airline has since secured KSh45.4 billion in Treasury support, with its share price rising 18 per cent to KSh5.62 since the disclosure.

OCH’s share price is now KSh7.46, up from an opening price of KSh2.80 last year.