TransCentury, EA Cables say complete debt restructuring

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.

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.