The Kenya Electricity Generating Company (Kengen) has announced a rights issue in which they will issue 4.4 billion new shares to shareholders at a price of Kshs 6.55 each in a bid to raise Kshs 28.8 billion (~$288 million).

Shareholders of record on May 16 will be eligible to buy 2 new shares for every 1 they own, at a price, which is a discount of 18% of its recent weighted trades. Kengen has about 192,000 shareholders now.

Standard Investment Bank and Renaissance Capital are transaction advisors, Dyer & Blair and Faida are sponsoring brokers and Cooperative Bank will be the receiving bank for the rights issue which will run from May 23 to June 10, 2016.

The Kenya government which owns 70% will exercise its full shareholding rights, by converting some of the loans it has advanced to Kengen into equity in the rights issue.

Kengen owns 31 power generating plants with a combined installed capacity of 1,337 MW from diverse generation modes comprising hydro, thermal, geothermal and wind power.

$1 = Kshs 100 

Kengen shares trade at Kshs 8.00 at the NSE