The National Treasury has announced that it is planning to sell up to 65 percent of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) in an Initial Public Offering (IPO). This has been revealed by Treasury cabinet secretary John Mbadi.
CS Mbadi informed the National Assembly’s Finance and Planning Committee that the State will be retain a stake of 35 percent. The expected sale via IPO is expected to be the largest privatisation of a State corporation through the Nairobi Securities Exchange in more than a decade.
“Although it is profit-making, the government gets just about Sh3 billion or Sh4 billion annually as dividends. I am sure that if we privatize Kenya Pipeline and retain just a 35 percent stake of ownership, we could make up to four or five times more out of that entity,” he said.
“KPC is making revenues of over Sh30 billion and profits of just about Sh7 billion. Currently, the government only gets so much because of the expenses incurred in running the business. If the profit goes up four times, we could even get more with just a 35 percent stake.”
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According to the latest available financials on KPC, the company made a Sh6.87 billion in the year to June 2024. This was an increase from the Sh4.49 billion that it had made in the same period the previous year. Its assets came in at Sh120.7 billion. The company is currently ranked as the most asset-rich and profitable among State corporations.
The corporation was reinstated into a list of corporations earmarked for privatisation during a cabinet meeting that was held on July 29, 2025.
“The Cabinet gave the green light for the reinstatement of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) into the privatisation programme, paving the way for partial divestiture of government shares in a move aimed at democratizing ownership by Kenyans at the Nairobi Securities Exchange and unlocking the company’s full commercial potential,” a statement from the cabinet said.
