This archive report was first published on 31 August 2021.
On September 1, 2021, the Business Daily reported that auctioneers had failed to find a buyer for a high-end home repossessed from former Nakumatt CEO Atul Shah over a Sh2 billion debt.
The home, located in Nairobi's Lavington, was put up for sale in July 2021, barely three months after the High Court dismissed a petition seeking to overturn the forced sale by KCB Group to recover the debt.
According to Phillips International Auctioneers, the sale of the home did not happen in August 2021, despite receiving numerous enquiries. The auctioneers attributed this to a general slowdown in the economy, especially in the real estate business.
Phillips International Auctioneers had demanded that interested bidders pay a refundable fee of Sh1 million to obtain a bidding number and catalogue before the auction date. The declared purchasers were also required to deposit 25 percent of the asking price by bankers' cheque by the close of business on the auction date.
The Lavington home was offered as security in 2011 and accounted for Sh25 million in the multibillion-shilling loans. The property, known as LR No. 5/134 (IR No. 49802), is easily identified as House number 3 located at Elite Gardens Estate in Muthangari.
The title is held on a leasehold interest for a term of 45 years with effect from September 1, 1989. The property is a four-bedroom villa with a domestic servant quarters and a semi-permanent generator room.
