Equity Bank is set to auction properties belonging to billionaire businessman Paul Wanderi Ndung’u, according to a newspaper notice by Garam Investments Auctioneers.
The value of the outstanding loan was not immediately clear but the properties to be disposed of are worth hundreds of millions of shillings combined.
The auctioneer said it has been instructed by the lender to sell a prime residential property sitting on 2.8 acres in Gigiri, Nairobi on March 21.
“All that parcel of land … registered in the name of Paul Wanderi Ndung’u g/t Simba Fresh Produce Limited,” the notice reads in part.
“The parcel is developed with a four-bedroom double storey house (currently being used as an office), single storey servant’s quarter block, external kitchen and carport.”
Most one-acre plots in Gigiri are listed at more than Sh100 million, with those with developments such as houses and offices valued higher.
The auctioneer is also set to sell a 600-acre commercial farm made up of three pieces of land in Laikipia County and which is owned by Mr Ndung’u (above). The auction is scheduled for March 24.
“The parcels are jointly under the cultivation with fresh vegetables and mainly under herbs cultivation, with supporting structural and infrastructure developments as follows,” reads part of the notice.
“Approximately 210 acres under drip irrigation; approximately 10 acres under greenhouses; approximately 50 acres under rain red sorghum cultivation; the remainder of the farm under fodder grass cultivation.”
Mr Ndung’u becomes the latest billionaire to face an auction of his properties over bank debt.
Billionaire Peter Munga, who founded Equity Bank, in October 2017 averted the auction of his five houses in Nairobi’s Kasarani worth Sh400 million at the time after making a last-minute payment to Jamii Bora Bank.
The value of the loan owed to the bank –which is now trading as Kingdom Bank— was not disclosed.
For Mr Ndung’u, the planned auction of the properties is the latest of his vast commercial interests to be made public. He has in the recent past been in the press mostly due to the SportPesa saga which saw him fall out with his former partners in the sports betting business.
Mr Ndung’u and Mrs Asenath Wachera Maina are currently fighting to reclaim the brand and assets of SportPesa, pitting them against a group of other businesspeople including Ronald Karauri.
