TransCentury cedes 34 pc stake in RVR

TransCentury has let go of its 34 per cent stake in the Kenya-Uganda rail concessionaire to Citadel Capital.

This was concluded in Nairobi yesterday and brings Citadel’s ownership of Rift Valley Railways (RVR) to 85 per cent through its subsidiary Africa Railways.

The deal brings to an end speculation about TransCentury’s next move after it announced to shareholders a month ago that it had entered negotiations that could change ownership of the railway company.

“The board made this decision to maximise shareholder value but still remains very positive about the fundamentals of RVR despite the historic challenges the business has faced,” TransCentury chief executive Gachao Kiuna said in a statement.

Both Cairo-based Citadel and TransCentury — RVR’s major shareholders — have invested heavily in the 2,800-kilometre railway.

Since 2010, they have replaced hundreds of kilometres of decrepit track and completed the rehabilitation of 500 kilometres of rail line that links Kenya with Tororo in Eastern Uganda and Gulu in the north, ending two decades of disuse and inefficiency.

The entire network is managed through a modern GPS-based control room from the company’s headquarters in Nairobi.

RVR will now buy new locomotives, doubling its fleet in the coming year.