Centum’s Two Rivers is seeking a Sh. 2 billion short term debt to fund real estate projects.
Through the Two Rivers Development Limited (TRDL), Two Rivers is issuing a one-year note with an interest rate offer of 14.5 per cent. This return is slightly higher than commercial banks’ maximum lending rate of 14 per cent.
The debt will be guaranteed by Centum Investments, which owns a 58 per cent stake. other shareholders are Aviation Industry Corp of China (Avic), and the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation.
The company says that although Chase Bank had approved an unknown amount of debt before it collapsed, Two Rivers was only able to draw out Sh. 500 million.
The resultant deficit, coupled with Sh. 650 million in deposits that TRDL says, it has in the lender, has 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 in its prospectus.
The company owns the 102 acres of land on which the mall is built.