The initial public offer (IPO) of shares by Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) is testing the appetite of Ugandan oil and gas distributors, as concerns over valuation weigh on investor interest.

 

The IPO closes on February 19, 2026, with trading scheduled to begin on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on March 9. KPC is offering 65 percent of its shares to the public, retaining a 35 percent government stake. The offer price is Ksh9 ($0.07) per share, with 11.8 billion shares available.

Ugandan analysts warn the shares may be overvalued. Analysis by Old Mutual Investment Group (OMIG) Uganda estimates a fair value of Ksh4.61 ($0.036), about half the offer price.“The current IPO pricing embeds a valuation premium that may constrain near-term upside for public market investors.“We anticipate a post-listing repricing as investor expectations normalise and improved trading liquidity enables clearer price discovery more closely aligned with intrinsic value,” the OMIG report dated January 29, 2026, said.

KPC’s revenue rose from Ksh30.86 billion ($237.9 million) in 2023 to Ksh38.59 billion ($297.5 million) in 2025. Profit before tax more than doubled over the period, from Ksh5.43 billion ($41.8 million) to Ksh12.95 billion ($99.8 million). Total assets slipped slightly to Ksh116.42 billion ($897 million).

Return on assets increased to 7.28 percent in 2025, while return on earnings rose to 9.55 percent.“Our average return on investment is about 15 percent. We don’t have any debt on our books now. We previously borrowed $350 million for 10 years but cleared it within seven to eight years,” said KPC managing director Joe Sang.“We have not had incidents of insider fraud in the past, but we recently incurred a one-off legal claim of $4.2 million brought by parties aggrieved by a previous oil spill incident.”KPC transported 2.7 billion litres of fuel to Uganda in 2025, with volumes expected to rise to 2.9 billion litres this year. About 135 oil marketing companies operate in Uganda. Fifteen percent of the IPO shares have been reserved for oil marketers in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a further 20 percent set aside for East African Community citizens.

Dickens Asiimwe Kata, an oil and gas lawyer at Cristal Advocates in Kampala, said the share sale signals KPC’s likely expansion into Uganda and Rwanda.“Uganda imports 18 million litres of petrol per month, representing a significant revenue stream for KPC. Its corporate governance standards are fairly impressive,” he said.

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