Actis Welcome Nakumatt Holdings To Garden City

Atul Shah - CEO & Founder Nakumatt  Chain Of Supermarket outlets

Actis, the pan-emerging markets private equity firm, will welcome retail chain Nakumatt Holdings to Garden City after signing heads of terms. Nakumatt joins South African retail giant Game as the mall’s second major anchor tenant. Garden City is a Grade-A mixed used scheme incorporating residential, leisure and office space with a 500,000 square foot shopping mall alongside Nairobi’s Thika Road.  

Leasing agent Knight Frank is working with top local and foreign brands to fill the 120 remaining stores in what will become East Africa’s largest retail centre. They are focused on bringing new fashion brands to the Kenyan market and discussions are ongoing with a number of South African retail groups. Speaking during the signing ceremony, Actis Managing Director for East Africa Mr. Michael Turner said: “We are delighted to welcome Nakumatt to Garden City: its involvement demonstrates confidence in this development and our vision to establish the premier retail centre in East Africa. It reaffirms Actis’s ability to attract the best brands to its real estate developments, helping to expand Kenya’s retail base.”

Nakumatt Managing Director, Mr. Atul Shah said the new store fits with the strategy of increasing Nakumatt’s footprint in strategic locations to help boost revenues. He said: “We are excited about the opportunity to serve our customers once again in this area as we continue to expand our services and promote our brand across the region. We welcome the development of the retail mall within Garden City as this is an area that has been massively underserved by retail services and is now set to benefit from the arrival of many renowned international and local brands.”

Garden City will integrate best practice in engineering, construction, landscape architecture, and community facilities. The project will include over 15 catering units, a cinema, an exhibition hall, an events arena, and a children’s play area within a 3-acre central park. Construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2013 and to be completed in time for Christmas 2014. A residential scheme, including 420 apartments and townhouses, will be developed following the launch of the retail centre.