Big time financial services holding company; KCB Group also known as KCB Group Limited has reportedly seized popular Mombasa based luxury hotel; English Point Marina again.
The move was made after the court removed a ban executed back in July of 2022 that prevented KCB Group from seizing or taking ownership of the property as a result of the 5.2 billion Kenyan Shillings it owes.
The Court of Appeal has stopped orders from the High Court by Justice Dora Chepkwony that prevented Kamal Anatroy Bhatt who was appointed as the Receiver Manager for KCB Group, from seizing the property. The Court did not however, provide any reasons for its decision.
Read Also: KCB Is Now Kenya’s Best Bank For Sustainable Finance
In June of 2022 KCB Group seized English Point Marina for the first time. The move resulted in a court battle with its owners and led to the bank getting removed just a month after.
KCB Group will gain control of English Point Marina until the appeal against the ruling by the High Court is taken in and a decision reached. It is however believed that it could lead to a long back and forth in court and even numerous suits.
Read Also: How To Deposit And Withdraw Money Via The KCB Paybill Number
The three (3) Judge bench of the Appellate court ruled that, “We hereby give our decision granting the notice of motion dated 22nd July 2022 and issue an order staying the Ruling and Orders of the Honourable Lady Justice Dorah Chepkwony delivered on 12th July 2022, and stay any further proceedings in High Court Commercial Court, Case No. E201 of 2022, Pearl Beach Hotel Limited vs KCB Limited & Kamal Anantory Bhatt, pending the hearing and determination of the applicants’ intended appeal.”
It added that, “We shall give the reasons for our decision on the 14th October 2022.”
The luxury property; English Point Marina, is situated by the harbor and is made up of a total of ninety six (96) apartments, eight (8) penthouses and twenty six (26) hotel rooms.
It is owned by Amin Kanji, Leila who is his wife, Alnoor; his brother, Nafisa his sister-in-law and Nazir Jinnah.
English Point Marina is currently one of the select few privately owned projects that have been granted the Vision 2030 Private Sector Flagship status.
Read Also: NSSF Buys Additional 312 Million Kenyan Shillings Worth Of Shares In KCB
The court documents which were filed by KCB Group revealed that a total of 5.2 billion Kenyan Shillings was borrowed between 2010 and 2016 by Pearl Beach Hotel for the construction of the fully serviced 5 Star destination; English Point Marina.
The loans were provided in the form of a development finance facility which would then be sold off in order to offset the debt.
Read Also: A Charging Station For Electric Cars Is Now Available In Naivasha
Upon the completion of English Point Marina its developer was unable to service the loan. This is according to the lender; KCB Group which went on to accommodate the developer on a number of occasions.
KCB Group added that even with the various restructuring agreements embarked upon at different times coupled with the moratoriums and other kinds of accommodations given to Pearl Beach Hotel; the owner of English Point Marina, defaults on the loan continued to occur.
Read Also: Jumia Launches New Integrated Logistics Network Facility and Warehouse In Kenya
In response the directors of KCB Group are accusing the lender of overcharging by as much as over 893 million Kenyan Shillings on the loans they received. They added that they have continued to be in negotiations with KCB Group in order to proper figure out the way forward for the loan repayment.
How informative was this particular article? Are there any other news topics, categories, or How To topics, that you would like us to write on? Feel free to reach out to Nexbit KE in the comment section.
