NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 28 – Investment firm Trans-Century intends to list at the Nairobi Stock Exchange by the end of June this year.
Trans-Century will be going to the bourse by way of introduction – meaning – it will list its shares for trading as opposed to raising capital through sale of shares in the primary market.
“It is a listing by introduction and subject to regulatory approval we expect to conclude by the end of the first half,” Tran-Century Chief Executive Officer Gachao Kiuna said on Monday.
Mr Kiuna said the firm had already appointed a team of transactional advisers to expedite the listing.
Dyer & Blair has been appointed as the investment bank for the listing while KPMG will serve as the financial advisers. Kaplan and Stratton will be the legal advisers for the transaction.
Among the companies under the firm’s portfolio, include East African Cables, Rift Valley Railways (RVR), Tanelec limited in Tanzania, Kewberg Cables (South Africa), Chai Bora (Tanzania) and Avery East Africa.
From the initial Sh25 million when it started out, Trans-Century has grown its assets under management to Sh11.2 billion.
Mr Kiuna however said the listing could take longer as the Capital Markets Authority has already received five other applications from firms intending to list at the bourse.
Though the decision to list will be timely for Trans-Century, analysts said the company will have to make more disclosures of the companies in which it has a stake in, if it wishes to win investor confidence.
Mr Kiuna was speaking while releasing the company’s 2010 financial results, where net income doubled to Sh468 million from Sh234.5 million a year earlier.
During the period under review, revenues grew by 25 percent to Sh6.8 billion.
The growth in profitability was partly driven by positive results from its power infrastructure division contributing Sh5.5 billion in revenues. There was however a slight dip in earnings before interest and tax at Sh368 million following an impairment loss from its EA Cables Tanzanian subsidiary related to write offs to do with bad debts.
Its specialized engineering division contributed Sh411 million in revenues for the investment firm while the consumer division raked in Sh915 million.
According to the CEO, Trans-Century would focus on power infrastructure development to grow the business.
“Power demand in Africa still outstrips supply. This one area we see immense potential and we will diversify our product range,” Mr Kiuna said.
One area the investment firm is considering is power generation within the region. It also has plans to venture into power station construction.
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