Two Rivers Development Limited (TRDL), a company partly owned by investment firm Centum, plans to sell several pieces of land for Sh5.6 billion to repay a short-term debt it is seeking to fund its real estate projects.
The company, whose other shareholders are Aviation Industry Corp of China (Avic), and the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation, is seeking to raise Sh2 billion payable after one year with an interest of 14.5 per cent.
TRDL, which owns the Two Rivers shopping mall with Old Mutual, has set aside 11 plots of land for sale this year, adding that the minimum price expected from the disposals is Sh4.96 billion.
Besides retiring the debt, proceeds from the plot sales will also be used to build infrastructure in the 102-acre land which the company acquired for Sh1 billion.
“These plots sales are expected to finance the retirement of the one-year note as well as contribute to the over Sh1 billion projected profit after tax,” TRDL says in the private offer’s prospectus.
TRDL says five residential plots will go for Sh2.48 billion, three mixed use (Sh1.38 billion), two mixed retail (Sh1.18 billion) and Sh569 million is what they expect to raise from the disposal of a plot meant for construction of a five-star hotel.
The firm has resorted to the premium-rated debt instrument, whose opening and closing dates have not been disclosed, to plug a funding deficit that arose following the collapse of Chase Bank a year ago.
The lender had approved a loan facility of unknown amount for TRDL before its collapse, but the property developer says it only managed to draw down Sh500 million.
The resultant deficit, coupled with Sh650 million in deposits that TRDL says, it has in the lender, left it with a capital shortfall.
“It is this funding gap that has created the rare opportunity for investors to access a high-yield paper issued by TRDL that is fully guaranteed by the largest listed investment company in east and central Africa,” TRDL says.
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Credit: Business Daily