Greenland Towers buyer to be named today

Nov 07, 2002

The buyer of the Greenland Towers will be named today.<br>The 11-storey structure on Plot 30 Kampala Road jointly owned by the defunct Greenland Bank and its associated company, FIBA (U) Ltd., is being sold to recover sh24b loan

By Felix Osike

The buyer of the Greenland Towers will be named today.

The 11-storey structure on Plot 30 Kampala Road jointly owned by the defunct Greenland Bank and its associated company, FIBA (U) Ltd., is being sold to recover sh24b loan that FIBA, a coffee processing company, owed the Greenland Bank. FIBA owned 75 % of the closed bank.

Vincent Kawunde, the proprietor of Oscar Associates, the auctioneers appointed by Bank of Uganda to handle the sale, said last evening that the buyer would be announced this morning.

“The evaluation process is going on. We expect that the qualifying bid will be announced tomorrow (Friday),” he said.

Other sources said the proposals for five of the nine bidders were being scrutinised to get the best value.

The estimated value of the building is US$5m (sh8b). Under the consent agreement, both the central bank and FIBA the majority shareholder, must agree on the final price.

City tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia through his Meera Investments offered sh4.25b while another businessman, Hassan Basajjabalaba, proprietor of Haba Group of Companies, bid $2.8m (sh 5.2b). Hilton Insurance Services Ltd, whose owner is not yet known, offered $4m (sh7.4b).

Other bidders were Abdul Karim (2.1m pounds or sh6b), Karim Hirji (sh4.6b), Joseph Ssempebwa ($3.1m or sh5.7b), Linda Birungi ($2.95m or sh5.5b), O.K Soni ($3.6m or sh6.7b) and Corporate Management and Restructuring Ltd ($2m or sh2.7b).

Both Greenland Bank and FIBA were associated with former central bank governor Dr. Sulaiman Kiggundu. Kiggundu was co-founder of the now defunct Greenland Group of Companies. He is serving a jail term in Luzira for failure to pay debts.

Greenland Bank was declared insolvent and closed by Bank of Uganda 1999. The closure led to the collapse of other subsidiary companies.

A Sudanese construction company, Concorp International Ltd., claims 40 percent ownership of the building. In February, Martino Agencies offered $3.6m (about sh6.2b) to purchase the building but failed to pay.

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