Multi-billion Dusit Hotel premises set for auction after bid to block sale failed

 

The prestigious Dusit Hotel 

The company that owns 14 Riverside, where the prestigious Dusit Hotel stands, will now face the auctioneer's hammer after failing in yet another attempt to block the sale.

Cape Holdings Ltd, which owns the property in Westlands, lost a bid to block Synergy Industrial Credit from selling the premises to recover a Sh5.5 billion debt, which arose from a botched deal.

The deal started in 2010 when Cape Holdings Limited developed the complex and invited Synergy Industrial Credit Ltd to buy some blocks and parking lots at a cost of Sh750 million.

Cape Holdings, however, declined to transfer the property as agreed and the dispute that arose was referred to an arbitrator.

The arbitrator made his decision in 2015 by ordering the developer to refund the principal amount and interest and other costs amounting to Sh1.66 billion.

What followed has been a dispute that has been in court corridors for the more as Cape Holdings sought to overturn the payment.

The matter has even been handled by the Supreme Court and referred back to the Court of Appeal for determination.

In the latest decision, the Court of Appeal noted that the move to place the company under administration by I&M Bank was activated under the most suspicious timing –immediately the Supreme Court dismissed yet another appeal and placed “the final nail on the coffin of legal manoeuvring”.

 BY  THE STAR