Ascent Capital, Kisumu road-building inputs maker to ink PE deal

Kisumu Concrete Products (KCP) Ltd is Thursday set to sign an equity purchase agreement with Ascent Capital Advisory Services.

The firm, which deals in tiles, concrete blocks, kerbs and road culverts as well as ballasts for road construction, said this was its first private equity deal in the region.

KCP, established in 1978, has actively been supplying roofing and flooring tiles as well as concrete blocks to housing developers and ballast to local and foreign road contractors, helping improve its revenues across western Kenya.

The KCP-Ascent deal could open up Western Kenya for investors in search of investment opportunities in Kisumu and surrounding counties.

The two parties welcomed the investment saying it would help increase production at KCP enabling it take advantage of the growing opportunities in the building and construction industry.

“This private equity investment is timely given the rapid population growth and the introduction of a devolved governance system in Kenya, which has led to increased demand for housing and improved infrastructure construction materials in Western Kenya,” it said.

The deal comes hardly a month after Kisumu hosted an international investment conference and exhibition last month that was attended by small and medium firms from 12 counties in the region.

The conference also attracted 12 international exhibitors as well as investors from US, Europe and Asia besides local multinationals and private equity investors.