Photo/courtesy.
Administrators have begun marketing KOKO Networks’ assets in the first major step towards winding down the clean cooking company, seeking financially qualified buyers capable of completing transactions exceeding $15 million.
Expressions of interest are due by 17 July for the integrated ethanol cooking technology and manufacturing platform, with PwC expected to shortlist bidders after the deadline.
KOKO shut down in January and laid off more than 700 employees after the Kenyan government declined to issue a Letter of Authorisation required to sell carbon credits internationally, cutting off revenues used to subsidise ethanol fuel for more than one million Kenyan households.
The sale covers patents, hardware designs and software developed over more than a decade, a stove and canister manufacturing plant in Gujarat, India, and the distribution and retail platform that supported more than 3,000 automated fuel stations in Kenya.
PwC is administering KOKO Networks Limited, while affiliated Indian companies Saarus Innovations Pvt Ltd and KOKO Networks Pvt Ltd are undergoing voluntary liquidation.
Founded in 2013 by Gregg Murray, KOKO raised undisclosed equity and debt funding from investors including Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Mirova, Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures and Rand Merchant Bank, while the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency backed the business with a $179.6 million guarantee.
