Kenyan electricity producer KenGen has received subscriptions worth Sh25.2 billion shillings ($335 million) for its bond offer, meaning the issue has been oversubscribed by at least 68 per cent.

 KenGen, Kenya’s main electricity generating company, had planned to raise at least 15 billion shillings in a 10-year bond and had regulatory approval to take up an addition Sh10 billion in the event of an oversubscription.“As of Monday 25.2 billion shillings has been subscribed presenting overall 68 per cent oversubscription on the 15 billion we were looking for.

We are extremely please with that outcome,” said Amish Gupta, investment banker at Standard Investment Bank. Arrangers are still reconciling subscriptions, he said, adding that KenGen would announce soon whether it would absorb the extra Sh10 billion under an option, known as the greenshoe, that allows an issuer to accommodate more capital than initially applied for in the case of an oversubscription.Kenya’s government and corporate debt market has attracted a lot of interest this year from local and overseas investors.

KenGen is among a growing list of Kenyan companies tapping the debt market to raise capital, which analysts say is dampening demand for equities at east Africa’s biggest bourse