TransCentury, EA Cables say complete debt restructuring

The East African Cables plant in Industrial Area. FILE PHOTO | NMG

What you need to know:

  • Restructuring reduced the group’s debt by Sh1.65 billion ($16 million), or 44 percent of the group’s total, and offered a 10-year extension to the tenure of remaining debts, both firms said in a statement.
  • They did not provide details of the deal, which also led to a two-year moratorium on principal repayments and a six-month moratorium on interest payments.

East African Cables and its parent firm TransCentury Ltd have completed a debt restructuring deal that has reduced the group’s debt by almost half, they said on Monday.

TransCentury, which was founded by a group of Kenyan investors in 1997, invested in a range of infrastructure companies, including East African Cables but has struggled with a heavy debt burden, losses and a plunge in its share price.

The woes followed a series of poor investments including an attempt to revive the colonial era Kenya-Uganda railway, which failed and left TransCentury saddled with debts.

Group debt

Restructuring reduced the group’s debt by Sh1.65 billion ($16 million), or 44 percent of the group’s total, and offered a 10-year extension to the tenure of remaining debts, both firms said in a statement.

They did not provide details of the deal, which also led to a two-year moratorium on principal repayments and a six-month moratorium on interest payments.

The deal cuts the combined group’s debt service cash requirements by more than 80 percent in the next two years, the companies said.

PAYE Tax Calculator

Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.