I and M Group founder and director Suresh Raja Shah and his two sons have seen the value of their shares in the bank double to Sh17.35 billion following a 94 percent rally on the stock to an all-time high of Sh69.50 in the last one year.
Mr Raja Shah holds a stake of 10.06 percent in the bank in his name, equivalent to 174.9 million shares, which are now valued at Sh12.16 billion, up from Sh6.25 billion a year ago.
Mr Sarit Shah, who also serves as an executive director in I and M, has seen the value of his 37.6 million shares or 2.16 percent stake in the lender jump to Sh2.61 billion from Sh1.34 billion in June 2025.
The 2.14 percent stake held by his brother Sachit Shah, who serves as a non-executive director, is now valued at Sh2.58 billion, from Sh1.33 billion previously. I and M Bank’s market capitalisation-the measure of investor wealth- stood at Sh120.94 billion at close of trading on Tuesday.
The bank’s stock has emerged as the top gainer in the banking segment on the NSE over the past year, beating Co-operative Bank (up 91.6 percent), DTB (87.7 percent) and Stanbic Holdings (70.4 percent).
Bank stocks have been rallying due to positive investor sentiment after they announced higher profits and dividends in the 2025 financial year.
‘The segment was seen as undervalued from last year, trading below book value, even before adding the growth that has been driven by higher profits and dividends,’ said Wesley Manambo, a senior research associate at Standard Investment Bank.
‘For I and M, investors are also pricing in the bank’s agility in the region where it has a wide presence.’
The sector’s overall valuation gain of 67 percent to Sh1.58 trillion has handed major shareholders such as the Shah family handsome capital gains on their stocks, rewarding them for years of ownership they have maintained in the lender.
The Shahs hold their I and M Bank shares through various investment vehicles, primarily the lender’s three top shareholders Minard Holdings Limited, Tecoma Limited and Ziyungi Limited, whose directors include Mr Raja Shah.
By the end of May 2026, the three entities held a combined 54.93 percent stake with a market value of Sh66.43 billion in I and M.
The family’s Bhagwanji Raja Charitable Foundation also holds a 2.43 percent stake in the bank, which is currently valued at Sh2.94 billion at yesterday’s closing share price.
The bank’s other major shareholder is East Africa Growth Holding -an investment vehicle managed by private equity firm AfricInvest- with a stake of 15.14 percent or 263.4 million shares that are now valued at Sh18.3 billion. EAGH has made a gain of Sh7.6 billion on the price of Sh10.7 billion at which it acquired its I and M stake in two separate transactions in 2024.
The PE fund initially bought a 10.13 percent holding equivalent to 167.53 million shares from UK development finance institution British International Investment for a reported Sh6.5 billion in June 2024.
In this transaction, EAGH paid a premium to acquire the shares, which were valued at Sh3.01 billion on the NSE at the time.
Four months later, the PE fund bought an additional 86.5 million shares (4.97 percent stake) for Sh4.2 billion in what was a direct equity investment in the bank.
I and M Bank issued the additional shares to facilitate the transaction, in the process diluting existing investors including the Shah family.
The new units were priced at Sh48.42 each, representing a premium of 93 percent on the lender’s prevailing share price of Sh25.05 when the disclosure was made on October 13, 2024.
Besides the capital gains on their stock, the Shahs also banked Sh936.3 million in May from dividends for their shares in the bank, which raised its per-share cash distribution to Sh3.75 in the year to December 2025 from Sh3 in 2024.
Mr Raja Shah earned Sh656 million in dividends, while his two sons got about Sh140 million each. The family foundation was paid Sh158.5 million in the cash distribution.
The payout placed the family firmly on the list of the NSE’s banking sector dividend kings. They joined the likes of Equity Group chief executive James Mwangi, who earned Sh734.9 million from his 127.8 million shares in the lender, and Co-operative Bank of Kenya CEO Gideon Muriuki, who earned Sh337.5 million from his 2.3 percent or 135 million shares in Co-op.
NCBA Group chairman James Ndegwa and his brother Andrew Ndegwa, who is also a director in the bank, earned Sh543.1 million and Sh550.9 million respectively in dividends from their 76.5 million and 77.6 million shares in the bank.