Hopeful Kenyans who invested at Stanlib’s Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)back in 2015 are now unbelievably counting looses after REIT lost its value and nowbit is being sold out.
Reports have indicate that Stanlib Kenya is finalising a transaction to sell parts of its business including the Fahari iReit to ICEA Lion in a deal scheduled for completion on February 29, 2020, pending regulatory approvals.
However, the announcement indicated that ICEA Lion will not take up any of Stanlib’s debts or any other liabilities.
By close of last week, Fahari iReit shares were retailing at Ksh9.60 per unit at the NSE, meaning shareholders will be losing more than Ksh1.6 billion on paper value of their original investment.
The acquisition is being orchestrated by Capital Markets Authority (CMA) chairman Mr James Ndegwa, who owns shares at ICEA Lion.
Ndegwa is the Chairman of First Chartered Securities (FCS). FCS owns ICEA Lion, which owns ICEA Lion Asset Managers, which manages the ICEA Money Market Fund.
The acquisition is thought to be one of the ways Mr Ndegwa is planning to stifle competition at the Money Market Fund sector, which he regulates as well as being a player.
FCS and it’s afflictions own a 12 percent stake in NCBA, which is listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Hence, NCBA is also regulated by CMA.
NCBA also runs NCBA money market fund, which is also regulated by CMA under Ndegwa.
Whether CMA orchestrated the fall of Reit to make acquisition easy for ICEA Lion or not is still unclear.
