State eyes Sh106b in Kenya Pipeline IPO

Treasury CS John Mbadi before the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning at Glee Hotel, Kiambu Road, on January 13, 2026. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

For less than Sh1,000, you can now own a piece of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) whose Initial Public Offering (IPO) was unveiled on Monday by the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi.

The government has offered prospective shareholders a piece of the company at Sh9 per share with a minimum purchase of 100 shares.

A total of 11.8 billion shares are up for grabs among different market segments. These are KPC staff, local retail investors, local institutional investors, foreign investors, investors from East Africa and oil marketers.

Local investors will own up to 20 per cent, similar to local institutional investors, foreign investors and East African investors. Oil marketers will own up to 15 per cent of the shares while KPC staff will contend with five per cent.

This is the first IPO since Safaricom was listed back in 2008. It is also the largest in ordinary share value in the region and will be the first to be conducted online as an e-IPO.

Prospective shareholders with a CDS account (an electronic account used to trade bonds or shares)  have 30 days to book their lots.

Mbadi defended the percentages issued to the different market segments, saying it is intentional to ensure most of the ownership remains with local investors.

“The government will still hold 35 per cent. We are offering 65 per cent,” he said.  “If you look at these percentages, foreign investors have 20 per cent of the 65 per cent.”

“Away from the region – since East Africa is also considered local — only 13 per cent will go to foreign investors. But if you add foreign investors to those from East Africa, the maximum is 26 per cent; meaning local ownership of this company is going to retain 74 per cent.”

Mbadi said KPC’s impressive performance is good value for investors, referring to financial records that show the firm had a revenue of Sh38.59 billion as at the end of June 30, 2025. Profit after tax stood at Sh7.49 billion, which is 20 per cent of the revenue. “The company is financially sound and supported by a strong resilient balance sheet,” he said.

The ordinary shares offered in the IPO are 11,812,644,350 which translates to Sh106.3 billion.

This money, together with the sale of 15 per cent government shareholding in Safaricom, is supposed to be seed funding for the National Infrastructure Fund, an initiative whose purpose is to provide cashflow for capital intensive projects such as roads, power generation and transmission and industrial development.

“The funds will be used to leverage and derisk investors in major infrastructure projects,” said Mbadi.

The CS once again dismissed disquiet in the government’s intention to pursue privatisation and divestiture, saying the KPC process was started in 2009 through a Cabinet memo, and it is only the current administration that has been courageous enough to go through with it.

“Both Kenya Kwanza and Azimio manifestos talk about privatising mature assets of the government,” he said. Principal Secretary State Department for Petroleum Mohamed Liban said the intention to list the State-owned firm is to have it add value to the economy.

Nairobi Securities CEO Frank Mwiti described the IPO as a strong signal of renewed confidence in the role of capital markets in financing the country’s economic transformation.