City businessman and property Mogul Sudhir Ruparelia has acquired Simbamanyo House, a prime property in the centre of Kampala at a whooping UGx 18.5 Billion fee.
Sudhir acquired the building through the investment arm of the Ruparelia Group of Companies in a public auction put up by Equity Bank that was seeking to recover an unpaid loan of $8.1 million from Simbamanyo Estates Limited.
In a letter dated October 8, Equity Bank informed the tenants of Simbamanyo House of change of management.
"We are writing to inform you that Equity Bank Uganda Limited, as mortgagee, has completed the sale of the above-mentioned property, after a public auction concluded on October 8, 2020, to the evaluated bidder M/S Meera Investment Ltd. All the tenants were put on notice of the said auction via an advert in the Daily Monitor Newspaper dated September 8, 2020." reads the notice signed by Sam Kirubi, the Managing Director of the Bank.
Simbamanyo House owned by Peter Kamya, the proprietor of Simbamanyo Estates is embroiled in a legal dispute with Equity Bank Uganda and Equity Bank Kenya resulting from unpaid loans that were advanced to the real estate company.
On August 20, 2012, Equity bank Uganda and Equity bank Kenya granted a loan facility of $6m to Simbamanyo to finance the construction of a hotel in Luzira, Kampala
