The Nelson Muguku family is selling the iconic Waterfront Karen Mall in a deal that is estimated to be worth as much as Sh9 billion.
The mega transaction has been confirmed by the property manager Ken Obimbo. Mr. Obimbo, however, has not revealed the actual amount that the property shall be sold for or who the buyer is.
“We have been in the market and we believe that we have a serious buyer on the table. There are some covenants that the buyer needs to meet to confirm the transaction is ongoing,” Obimbo told local media on the Nelson Muguku family intended sale of their prime property.
If the property is offloaded at Sh9 billion, it will have appreciated by Sh6 billion from the Sh3 billion valuation that it was given when it was launched in 2018 with the anchor tenant being South Africa’s retail giant, Game. The anchor tenant later exited the premise and was replaced by Naivas.
The 200,000 square feet property occupies 13 acres of land. The Watefront Karen Mall was built by Chinese contractor, CJRE East Africa, which is a subsidiary of the China Railway Group Company. The Waterfront Karen has over 1,000 parking bays to use within both open and basement parking, accessible from either Lang’ata Road or Karen Road.
This is not the first time that the Nelson Muguku family is putting the property on sale. In April 2021, an advert for the property leaked in the media.
“The Waterfront Karen Mall is the only 50-acre bulk of land at the centre of Karen and its prestigious environs. The property features over 30 acres of undeveloped land; a goldmine that can be converted into an ultra-modern mixed use development featuring high-end residential, commercial and recreational facilities – creating immense value for an investor. Karen is home to some of the most exclusive and high-profile residences in the country and continues to attract the wealthiest in society,” a sales brochure on the property was quoted by a local daily.
However, the Nelson Muguku family came out to deny that it was selling the property. In a statement, the mall’s then managing director David Muguku hsd said that they were not planning to sell the property, even though he had failed to make the same disclosure when the media had first reached out to him over the leaked sales brochure.
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“We would like to dispel this information and let the public, our tenants, and clients know that the information is false and does not represent the position of the management. The information should therefore be disregarded,” he had said.
The Nelson Muguku family is widely renowned because of its founder, Mr. Muguku who became a billionaire from selling chickens. The Mugukus were some of the largest shareholders at Equity Bank. They however dropped from the top list of shareholders in 2016 after selling shares worth an estimated Sh. 4 billion.
Mr. Muguku died in 2010 at the age of 78. He had built a business and investment empire from his poultry farming business that was based in Kikuyu, Kiambu County. At the time of his death, Muguku’s estate was estimated to have been worth some Sh10 billion.
At the time of his death, he held a stake of 6.08 percent in Equity Group. This meant that he was among the lender’s top shareholders. If his family had not sold off his Equity shares after his death, Muguku’s stake in Equity would today be worth am estimated Sh21 billion. This is in addition to tens of millions that the stake would have paid out to the family in dividends. The late billionaire also owned property in key Nairobi Central Business District’s areas including along Mfangano Street and along Moi Avenue.
