Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has revealed that Kenyan retail investors and local institutions acquired 7.9 billion shares in the recently concluded Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Kenya Pipeline Company.

Speaking on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, during the IPO results announcement, Mbadi said Kenyans and local institutional investors brought a total of 7.95 billion shares from the IPO, translating to about 67.32 per cent.

“We offered 11,812,644,350 shares at 9 shillings each.  The total number of shares applied for stood at 12,486,78,724, translating to an overall subscription rate of 105.7 per cent,’’ the CS stated.

He added that strong participation from regional investors, particularly from Uganda and Rwanda, significantly boosted the offer, enabling the government to raise a total of Ksh106.7 billion from the share sale.

Of the 12.4 billion shares offered during the IPO at the rate of Ksh9 per share, Uganda, Rwanda and the East African community bought a total of 3.8 billion shares.

Rwanda bought their shares using the country’s pension funds, coming at a time when Kenya has also announced plans to securitise and use employees’ NSSF funds for similar diversification goals.

This comes as the KPC initial public offering (IPO) received a 105.7 per cent subscription rate, with individual and institutional investors getting 67.32 per cent of the offered shares from the sale.

The IPO had been shadowed by lower valuations by some banks, an extension of the offer period and reports in local media that investors were apathetic.

The government offered a 65 per cent stake in Kenya Pipeline Company, aiming to raise 106.3 billion shillings in the region’s first big deal since the sale of shares in telecoms operator Safaricom in 2008, which raised more cash in dollar terms.

Foreign investors

Mbadi said that the government would only take what it had sought to raise.

The shares listed in the IPO will start trading on the Nairobi bourse on March 9, 2026.

Foreign investors, whom Mbadi had earlier dismissed claims that there were hidden plans to fully hand over KPC to them, will now own a marginal 0.02 per cent stake in the company.

Under the final allocation structure, local institutional investors will control 41 per cent, retail investors 2.56 per cent, KPC employees 0.06 per cent, and licensed oil marketing companies in Kenya 0.041 per cent, bringing total ownership to 100 per cent.