The founders of I&M Group are set to build a Sh3.24 billion hospital on Ngong Road’s Nairobi Business Park, which they acquired last year for more than Sh2 billion.
Disclosures in an environmental and social impact assessment study commissioned by the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) on the project show that the facility to be known as the World Trade Centre Hospital, will have a capacity of 150 beds.
The hospital will sit next to the Grade A office block at the business park, which is situated near the Ngong Race Course.
“The proponent, NBP Holdings Limited, proposes to set up a multi-specialty hospital on an approximately 2.5-acre piece of land … within the Nairobi Business Park along Ngong Road, Nairobi County,” read the environmental assessment filings in part.
“The total estimated cost of the proposed project is Sh3.24 billion inclusive of 16 percent value-added tax (VAT). The proposed hospital will feature two basement floors, ground and five floors.”
The Nairobi Business Park sits on a piece of land measuring 16 acres, which was acquired by private equity firm Actis from the Jockey Club of Kenya to develop the commercial block, which was completed in 2002.
Actis sold its interest in the development in 2015 for an undisclosed sum.
The buyers of the property, who held it under an investment holding company known as NBP Holdings Limited, subsequently put it up for sale two-and-a-half years later at an asking price of Sh2.6 billion.
It was bought by the Shah family, the founders of I&M Group, through their investment vehicle MTZ Holdings.
The investment vehicle is held by three firms—Minard Holdings, Tecoma Limited and Ziyungi Limited— that also have a majority stake in the listed lender. Directors of the three firms include Suresh Bhagwanji Raja Shah who is a founder of the bank.
The Competition Authority of Kenya, in a January notice, approved the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of NBP Holdings Limited by MTZ Holdings Limited.
The value of the deal was not disclosed but was expected to have topped the Sh2 billion mark based on the previous asking price and past transactions in the same property.
The proposed hospital will be close to the affluent Karen suburb, and access to it will be boosted by the recent dualling of Ngong Road.
The facility will continue a trend of healthcare providers setting up closer to their target populations as they seek a larger share of the growing healthcare spending from the growing middle class.
AAR Group, for instance, recently set up a Sh3.5 billion, 140-bed facility along Kiambu Road, which was funded by partners including the World Bank Group, International Finance Corporation, International Fund for Health in Africa and Swedfund.
