Multi-billion property belonging to tea estates billionaire David Langat has been spared from the auctioneers hammer.
The auctioning of the property was slated to be conducted on August 1 but has now been canceled by Garam Auctioneers.
The cancellation folllows what has been termed as a possible deal between the billionaire and his lenders.
The billionaire’s property was set to be auctioned over a debt of more than Sh. 2.1 billion that he owes a local bank.
According to the notice that Garam had issued, the property that was set for auctioning included the DL Koisagat Tea Estate in Nandi County and a prime property in Mombasa which the DL Group uses for handling and packaging tea for export.
“The parcel extends to 1,342 acres… It is developed with an exclusive tea zone for export-oriented commercial tea cultivation. There are 2.47 million tea bushes occupying 958.75 acres. There are 100,942 eucalyptus trees and 2,223 cypress trees,” the notice by Garam Investments Auctioneers had said.
“Other portions of the tea estate are under residential use (managerial houses and labour camps). Woodlots are periodically harvested to provide wood fuel to the tea processing.”
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The auction notice had gone on to state that Langat’s Mombasa property is located in a prime area, off Moi Avenue in the coastal town.
“The subject property comprises a 0.7-acre plot developed with a four- storey office block and five go- downs,” the notice by Garam Auctioneers stated.
At the same time, the godowns at the Mombasa property have been put to different uses. This includes three godowns that are currently used for processing and packaging of tea products.
In the auction, the buyers had been required to deposit 10 per cent of the purchase price in cash or a banker’s cheque at the fall of the hammer.
“A bidding deposit of Sh. 5 million for property no. 2 (the Mombasa property) and Sh. 10 million for property no.1 (tea estate) by way of banker’s cheque will be mandatory,” the notice by Garam.
The DL Koisagat Tea Estate currently supplies tea to Tetley UK. Tetley is one of the largest tea companies in the world. Langat’s DL Group has also expanded to Tanzania.
In 2018, the company acquired three companies from the British firm Rift Valley Corporation for an estimated price of Sh. 6 billion.