Companies
CIC Insurance gets Sh1 billion orders for Kiambu quarter acre plots
Monday May 01 2023
CIC Group chief executive officer Patrick Nyaga (right) with chief financial officer Philip Kimani during the release of the insurer’s 2022 financial results on March 22, 2023. PHOTO | POOL
CIC Insurance Group has signed agreements to sell Sh1 billion worth of quarter-acre plots in Kiambu County at a price of Sh7.85 million each.
The insurer aims to sell the entire 200-acre land next to Tatu City, with part of the proceeds to be used to settle a loan from the Co-operative Bank of Kenya which stood at Sh4.5 billion as of December 2022.
The facility helped CIC to settle its Sh5 billion corporate bond in October 2019.
Read: CIC resumes dividend on hitting Sh1bn profit
“We subdivided the entire 200-acre piece of land in Kiambu into four blocks and we have to date sold 140 quarter-acre plots. A quarter acre is going at ShSh7.85 million,” said CIC general manager for marketing and customer experience George Kamiri.
“We expect to complete the sale process hopefully by December 2023. I want you to note that Sh1 billion above is what we have received in commitment because selling land in Kenya as you know is a process,” Mr Kamiri said.
The insurer decided to subdivide the land after its efforts to find a single buyer failed.
The new selling strategy is expected to take longer but raise more money as opposed to dealing with one buyer who drives a hard bargain.
The Co-op Bank loan, with an initial value of Sh4.5 billion in 2019 when CIC took it to help repay its corporate bond, was worth the same amount as of December 2022 after accrued interest and repayments over the years.
Read: CIC Insurance returns to profitability with Sh668 million
The insurer has resumed interest payment on the loan following the expiry of a repayment break that was granted in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic disruptions.
