The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) gave the green light for Cable Experts Limited (CEL) to acquire a controlling interest in East African Cables Plc, approving the transaction under Section 46(6)(a)(ii) of the Competition Act. The approval was signed by CAK Director-General David Kemei and recorded in a Kenya Gazette notice dated August 21, 2026, which appeared in the Gazette on October 2, 2026.
CEL entered into a share purchase agreement on May 19, 2026 to buy 173,071,149 shares, representing 68.37 per cent of East African Cables, from Cable Holdings (Kenya) Limited – the wholly owned subsidiary of TransCentury Plc. At the time trading was suspended, the shares were priced at KSh1.71 each, valuing the whole company at roughly KSh432.8 million and the stake at about KSh295.9 million. The deal is intended to rescue the cable maker and to retire its secured bank indebtedness of KSh1.94 billion owed to Equity Bank Kenya.
East African Cables, incorporated in 1966, produces copper and aluminium electrical cables, house wiring, data and fibre-optic solutions, as well as consumer accessories such as switches and sockets. Its manufacturing facilities are located in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company was placed under administration in June 2025 after Equity Bank took control following a loan default and a failure to meet a demand notice issued in June 2023, leading to the suspension of its shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
TransCentury Plc, a Nairobi-based investment holding company, is also under receivership. The Court of Appeal on May 23, 2025 rejected East African Cables’ attempt to stop Equity Bank from selling four properties that secured a KSh2.2 billion debt. Following that decision, Equity Bank moved TransCentury into receivership and East African Cables into administration. Muniu Thoithi and George Weru of PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited were appointed joint receivers and managers for TransCentury on June 16, 2023 and resumed their duties on June 19, 2025 after a 90-day extension of court orders expired.
CEL, which manufactures electrical cables and conductors, plans to revive East African Cables and settle the bank debt that triggered the administration. The company has applied to the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) for an exemption from making a mandatory offer for the remaining 31.63 per cent of shares held by minority shareholders. In a separate notice, CEL said it has sought CMA direction under Regulation 28 of the Take-over Regulations to confirm the continuation of the suspension and to propose a pathway for the orderly resumption of trading once the acquisition is completed.
The suspension of East African Cables’ shares on the NSE remains in place until the transaction and related regulatory approvals are finalised. If the CMA refuses the exemption, CEL would be required to make a mandatory offer to the minority shareholders, which could increase the overall cost of the deal. The acquisition also clears a competition hurdle; on the same day CAK approved the transaction, it also signed off on the ICEA Lion takeover.
CEL operates factories in Kenya, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo and sells its products in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and Ethiopia. The identity of CEL’s investors has not been disclosed publicly. The rescue acquisition is described by CEL as enabling East African Cables to continue as a going concern and to protect operations that supply cables to construction, energy and infrastructure projects across the region.
