Kenyan multimillionaire tycoon Vimal Shah has stepped down as the CEO of Bidco Africa, the $400 million (annual revenues) edible oils manufacturer he co-founded with his younger sibling and father.
According to a press release issued by Bidco Africa, Thiagarajan Ramamurthy, a former executive at Nakumatt, East Africa’s largest retailer, has taken over from Vimal Shah as Bidco’s CEO, making it the first time that the wealthy Shah family has ceded leadership of the Bidco empire to a non-family member. In a press statement on Monday, Vimal said ceding control to Ramamurthy was meant to help the Shah family to concentrate in driving the growth strategy of the company and growing Bidco’s market niche as it diversifies into manufacturing new product lines across Africa.
Ever since the Shahs founded Bidco Africa in 1985, Vimal has served as the company CEO while his father Bhimji Depar Shah has served as chairman as the company while Tarun, Vimal’s brother, has been a director. Vimal will take over as the company chairman going forward.
Last month, Bidco Africa announced plans to invest $200 million in a new beverage plant and acquisitions over the next 5 years in a bid to increase its annual revenues to $1 billion. Bidco is about to launch a $40 million beverage plant in the industrial town of Thika, northeast of Nairobi, in attempt to compete with soft drinks giants Coca Cola and Del Monte in soda, water and juice production.
Bidco Africa is the largest manufacturer of edible oils in East and Central Africa, and manufactures detergents, soaps, baking powder and canola, as well as other edible oils. Bidco has a 49% share of the edible oils market in Kenya, and annual revenues of more than $500 million. Bidco’s products are manufactured, sold and distributed in 14 countries across Africa.
Vimal Shah and his family were once listed in Forbes’ annual ranking of Africa’s richest people.
A representative for Bidco did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publishing this post.