TransCentury Plc’s joint receivers have signed agreements to sell two of the group’s core subsidiaries, a decisive step in the effort to recover value for creditors more than two years into the company’s receivership.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, acting through receivers George Weru and Muniu Thoithi, confirmed the deals in a statement released this week. Msufini (T) Limited will acquire TransCentury’s 70% stake in Tanelec Limited for USD 16.35 million (roughly KES 2.1 billion). Separately, SPAC Hill Capital Limited will acquire the group’s 94.4% stake in Avery East Africa Limited for USD 861,538 (about KES 111 million). Both transactions still require regulatory approval, corporate consent and other standard closing conditions before they can close.
How TransCentury Ended Up Here
Equity Bank placed TransCentury under receivership on 16 June 2023, after the company defaulted on debt obligations totalling roughly KSh 4.8 billion. The default followed a failed rights issue earlier that year, in which TransCentury aimed to raise KSh 2 billion but collected just KSh 828 million, a subscription rate of about 40%.
The receivers’ authority did not run uninterrupted. Court injunctions suspended their powers for extended periods while TransCentury fought the appointment in the High Court. Those orders lapsed on 19 June 2025, and the receivers resumed full control of the company’s assets and affairs.
The timing stung. TransCentury had just posted its first annual net profit since 2013, breaking more than a decade of losses. Revenue climbed to KSh 6.7 billion in the 2024 financial year, gross profit rose 27.1% to KSh 2.34 billion, and the stock became the best performer on the Nairobi Securities Exchange in 2025, gaining 187% year to date. That recovery has not settled the underlying dispute with Equity Bank, which continues in court alongside the receivership process.
What Tanelec Brings to the Table
Tanelec ranks as the largest manufacturer of electrical distribution transformers and switchgear across East and Central Africa. Based in Arusha, Tanzania, the company serves utilities and private customers in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. It also operates a Zambian subsidiary supplying transformers, switchgear and turnkey electrical works.
TransCentury built its stake in Tanelec in 2007, part of an aggressive expansion drive during the company’s most ambitious years under the Kibaki era investment boom. Under the new agreement, Msufini (T) Limited will purchase 137,347 ordinary shares, representing 70% of Tanelec’s issued capital, along with debts owed to TransCentury by Tanelec and its subsidiaries. Once the sale closes, Msufini becomes the majority shareholder.
Avery’s Path to a New Owner
Avery East Africa, in which TransCentury holds 94.4%, manufactures, supplies, maintains and repairs weighing equipment, alongside broader operations in construction, energy and industrial trading. TransCentury acquired the business in 2005.
Earlier in the receivership process, the administrators publicly floated several paths for Avery, including recapitalisation, debt refinancing, a going concern sale of the business, or an outright sale of TransCentury’s shareholding. They described the company as sitting on a strong project pipeline and rising demand across its core sectors, positioning it for its next phase of expansion.
That search has now produced a buyer. SPAC Hill Capital Limited has agreed to purchase 679,720 ordinary shares, or 94.4% of Avery’s issued capital, for USD 861,538. On completion, SPAC Hill Capital takes majority ownership and assumes responsibility for the business’s continued operation and development.
What Happens Next
Both deals remain conditional. Regulatory approvals, corporate consents and other closing requirements must clear before either transaction becomes final. Once completed, the receivers will apply proceeds from these sales, together with recoveries from other parts of the group, toward settling TransCentury’s obligations in line with standard insolvency priorities and creditor rights.
The receivers described the two agreements as an important milestone in the broader process of realising value across TransCentury’s portfolio, work they say stays aligned with their mandate to protect creditor interests while preserving the underlying businesses that keep operating within the group.
For a company that once dominated East Africa’s infrastructure investment landscape, the sale of Tanelec and Avery marks another step in an unwinding that began more than two years ago, one still playing out alongside an unresolved legal fight with the bank that started it.
