Centum Real Estate Limited’s new managing director Kenneth Mbae. FILE PHOTO | NMG Centum Real Estate Limited has appointed Kenneth Mbae as its new managing director effective 17 March 2022.
Mr Mbae, an insider at the investment company Centum, takes over the role from Samuel Kariuki, who "has resigned to pursue other interests" the firm said.
Prior to this appointment, Mr Mbae served as the Chief operating officer of Centum Re overseeing operations in Kenya and Uganda.
"Samuel will be leaving the organization in June 2022. As the outgoing managing director, he will remain available to work with Kenneth to ensure smooth transition and hand over process," the firm said in a statement.
The appointment comes at a time the investment firm is mulling the sale of its real estate arm.
Centum last year announced that its real estate arm was looking to raise Sh17 billion from an equity deal with Luxembourg based private equity firm GEM Global Yield, as part of a wider shift from debt.
The proposed transaction is expected to result in major capital gains for the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm besides reducing the concentration of its assets in the real estate sector.
"We are open to selling part or all of our stake in Centum RE. We are doing this to rebalance our portfolio which is currently concentrated in real estate,” James Mworia, Centum’s chief executive, said earlier.
“The money raised will be reinvested in marketable securities (stocks and bonds) and private equity to reach our allocation target in these two segments.”
The company earlier consolidated most of its most of its real estate ventures into Centum RE, comprising land and properties being developed in Nairobi County, Kilifi County and Uganda.
The investment firm, however, continues to hold Two Rivers Development Limited (TRDL) directly. TRDL in turn holds a controlling stake in Nairobi’s Two Rivers Mall.Centum held 63.5 percent of its Sh47.5 billion worth of assets in the year ended March in real estate, overshooting its target maximum of 55 percent.