Keimanol under a microscope: Issues leading to a criminal investigation and historical losses

In less than a year, large acquisitions announced by the Methanol Chemical Company (Keimanol) enthusiastically turned into a file subject to a financial criminal investigation at the request of its new board of directors, after causing one of the largest quarterly losses in the history of the company and raised deep questions about the effectiveness of the ERA. The ambition of expansion in the mid -2023 spoke Keiman in the language of growth. In the middle of this year, it announced that it signed two binding offers to acquire 84% of the Chemical Company, and 80% of the International Chemical Industries Company Ltd. Despite the lack of disclosure at the time of financial values, the move came as part of an ambitious plan to expand the company’s presence in the specialized chemical market, diversifying the basis of the Petro markets. After months of negotiations, on November 12, 2023, Kananol announced the completion of the “Aldar” agreement for 46.2 million Riyals. Thereafter, the “Al -Alamia” agreement was joined for 80 million rows on May 19, 2024. The former board of directors promoted these transactions as a future growth engine, and the acquisition aims to expand the part of Keimnol in the specialized chemical market, and diversify the company’s product basket in accordance with its strategic and expansion plans. The agreement is also expected to reinforce the company’s unequal work with the prices of valuable materials and economic courses for the petrochemical sector, and according to what the company has published in its first announcement on the Saudi Stock Exchange website “Tadawul”. From enthusiasm to losses: deleted reputation and profits eradicated, but in 2024 everything changed, Keiman losses of 127 million Riyale removed the full amount of fame due to the acquisitions, to losses in the fourth quarter of 195.4 million, and it is considered the second quarter loss in its history. With the increase in losses and the decline in confidence, the shareholders and observers began to ask questions: Who was behind these decisions? Was it adopted on good professional and financial foundations? A new advice … and old questions on November 12, 2024, took over a new board of directors. After reviewing the results of 2024, the review committee filed an explicit recommendation on April 7, 2025 requesting that a financial criminal criminal investigation into the acquisition agreements that took place during the mandate of the previous council (from 2021 to 2024). The next day, April 8, 2025, the current council held an emergency meeting and decided to contract with an external consultant office specializing in financial investigations, to start a comprehensive audit in the circumstances of the two transactions and the extent of his commitment to professional controls and management. The two transactions, promoted as a future growth engine, are now a legal and accounting challenge, and a wide file on corporate governance and the transparency of investment decisions. AL -SHARQ contacted the current CEO and member of the company’s board, Sabri Al -Ghamdi, who was also a member of the former council of directors, to get a comment, but it first received an answer to the time of the publication.