Kenya Electricity Generating Company Limited

active

In May 2006 the government of Kenya, acting through its Permanent Secretary of Treasury Mr. Joseph Kinyua, completed an initial public offering (IPO) for 30 percent of public utility Kenya Electricity Generating Company Limited (KenGen). The company was the largest electricity producer in the country with total capacity of some 945 MW, representing 80 percent of Kenya’s generating capacity. KenGen sold all produced electricity to transmission and distribution utility Kenya Power & Lighting Co. Ltd. (KPLC). In 2005 KengGen reported an operating profit of some $27 million. Registration for the IPO was open on March 20th and closed on April 12th, 2006. Shareholder certificates were credited on May 5th, 2006. The IPO was some 337 percent oversubscribed, and the government capped the number of shares one investor could get at 6,600. The government sold a total of 659,508,437 shares at 11.90 Kenyan Shillings each, representing a 30 percent stake in KenGen. At the end of 2007 no private investor held more than 1.5% of KenGen.