LEAVE OUR PREMISES, 14 LANDLORDS TELL NAKUMATT

Nakumatt Junction on Ngong Road in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

In Summary

In a statement issued by 14 landlords, the owners say they do not wish to continue with Nakumatt as a tenant and they do not support the retailer’s recovery efforts by the court appointed administrator Peter Kahi.

Nairobi. Nakumatt landlords have rejected the retailer’s revival plan and want the supermarket out of their premises saying its stay is hurting their income and putting them at risk of being auctioned by banks.

In a statement issued by 14 landlords, the owners say they do not wish to continue with Nakumatt as a tenant and they do not support the retailer’s recovery efforts by the court appointed administrator Peter Kahi.

The move comes just days after Tuskys Supermarket, which has been helping the troubled retailer with filling its shelves and paying distributors said last week that it is planning to pull out of the deal.

The deal with Nakumatt involved a Ksh650 million payout to support Nakumatt’s operations and another sum of between Ksh1.5 billion and Ksh3 billion for restocking.

“Our position has been reached following detailed consultation and an objective review of the recovery proposals. We note that the Nakumatt/Tusky’s deal has fallen through with no viable alternative offered, leaving us with no other conclusion than that Nakumatt has no hope for recovery,” said the landlords.

The 14 landlords include Galleria, Nyali, Likoni, Karen Crossroads, Nakuru, Eldoret Household, Cinemax, Nanyuki, Highridge, City Hall, Diani, Malindi, Meru and Highport (Warehouses).

The property owners say they developed their outlets on loans and they are at risk of having their properties seized by the banks following Nakumatt’s massive default in rent payment.

The landlords further say that due to Nakumatt’s failure to adequately restock its shelves, footfall within the properties has fallen drastically and this has affected other tenants, leading to significant losses to third parties.

Early this year, the High court allowed Nakumatt to appoint Mr Kahi in a bid to lay strategy on the way forward on coming out of debt owed to the landlords and suppliers.

The March 15 meeting between Nakumatt creditors and Mr Kahi ended acrimoniously after the creditors rejected a raft of recovery proposals presented to them.

The Citizen