Kenya Pipeline beats Sh106b IPO target as investors scramble for shares

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi during the release of the Kenya Pipeline Company Initial Public Offering results at Serena Hotel, Nairobi, on March 4, 2025. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

The Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) will soon be listed at the Nairobi Stocks Exchange (NSE) after a successful Initial Public Offering (IPO) where its shares were oversubscribed.

The company aimed to raise Sh106 billion through the sale of shares at Sh9 each.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi revealed that the IPO posted a strong subscription rate of 105.7 per cent, after investors applied for 12.4 billion shares against an offer of 11.8 billion. 

In terms of ownership, the government retains 35 per cent against the 41 per cent taken up by institutional investors.

The Ugandan government, upon invitation, led regional investors in pumping in cash, with East African institutions and individuals now owning 21.2 per cent.

Others include Retail Investors (2.56), Foreign Investors (0.02), KPC Employees (0.06), and Oil Marketers (0.014). 

“The IPO attracted over 70,000 ordinary Kenyans, thus enabling achievement of the IPO’s key objective of democratizing public assets by broadening the shareholder base,” said Mbadi, adding, “The investment by the Government of Uganda is considered very strategic, making KPC a truly regional corporate.” 

The IPO was opened on January 19, 2026, with an initial closing date scheduled for February 19. However, the process done entirely online was extended until February 24, a move designed to net more retail investors.

Of state parastatals, Kenya Pipeline Company listing at the NSE is the second after Safaricom’s public listing in 2008.

According to Mbadi, KPC’s listing comes at an opportune time when the NSE is gaining momentum with rising market capitalisation that surpassed Sh3 trillion at the close of 2025. 

“The eventual listing of KPC at the NSE shall increase institutional investors' desired stock of assets in the Exchange, and this will end up with an increase in the flows of foreign capital,” he noted.

Proceeds of the sale of KPC shares will be channeled to the newly created National Infrastructure Fund, with the funds earmarked for the construction and development of transport, energy, and agricultural infrastructure to spur economic growth.

Together with the Sovereign Wealth Fund, NIF has been billed as a solution to development financing amid tightening fiscal space, necessitating private-sector participation in public projects to reduce public debt and high taxation.

KPC is expected to use the new investment to expand its pipeline capacity, facilities, and oil refinery.