|
|
Ethiopia: Business Woman Outbids Nyala Insurance
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
1 April 2008
Posted to the web 1 April 2008
Wudineh Zenebe
Haimanot Business Plc wins bid for Mina Building. Other bidders were Meseret Melaku, who offered 30 million Br, Nesiru Gebru (31.4 million Br), Sisay Damtew (42.7 million Br) and Chaku Business Plc; the latter became the second highest bidder with an offer only 5,000 Br than what the winning bid offered
A private company bearing the name of a business woman, Haimanot Alemayehu, has acquired a property located off Ethio-China Friendship Road, outbidding Nyala Insurance by 105,000 Br. The company, established this year by the business woman and four of her children - all residing in the United States - has bought the 11-storey Mina Building after offering 45.1 million Br for it.
At an auction held inside the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia's (CBE) staff club on Tuesday, March 25, 2008, a representative of Haimanot General Business Plc made 92 calls, as opposed to the 145 calls made by Nyala's representative who stopped at 45 million Br. The insurance firm came out from the auction being the third highest bidder of six; its sister company, Dashen Bank, was disqualified for it had a person whose representation was not notarised by the public notary office.
Other bidders were Meseret Melaku, who offered 30 million Br, Nesiru Gebru (31.4 million Br), Sisay Damtew (42.7 million Br) and Chaku Business Plc; the latter became the second highest bidder with an offer only 5,000 Br less than what the winning bid offered. It is a company whose majority share is owned by Teleksew Gedamu, a businesswoman who is not only a close friend of Haimanot Alemayehu, but also a wife of Wondwossen Teshome, president of the state owned Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE).
Both business women have leased plots alongside Tana Lake in Bahir Dar, Amhara Regional State, in order to develop hospitality outlets, according to sources.
Haimanot's company was established in the first week of March 2008, with a capital of seven million Birr. She controls 90pc of the shares, while the remaining 10pc is equally distributed among her children - Yohannes Yoseph, Mathewos Yoseph, Ruth Yoseph and Petros Yoseph.
Haimanot's company acquired a property once owned by Mina Trading Plc, a company established in the early 1990s by Menwuyelet Atnafu and his wife, Lakech Mengestie, the latter transferred her shares to Abebaw Desta when the company was restructured in February 2003 to have the 20.5 million Br capital equally shared by Menwuyelet and Abebaw. Both were in jail accused of involvement in corruption when this happened, and acquitted from all charges before they were released in 2006.
The blue glass structure erected on 1,673sqm, considered an icon in the list of properties they own, was completed in 1999 after consuming close to 34 million Br. It now houses several companies such as HST, an audit firm, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Star Business Group, another sister company where the two business men are major shareholders.
This property was held by the CBE as security against a merchandise loan it had advanced to Mina's sister company, Tis Abay Trading; the latter took a 60 million Br loan from the CBE in 1997, and the property was held to secure half of this amount. With the arrests of the owners and the company defaulting to service its debts, CBE foreclosed all the collaterals put to secure the loan, including a residential house owned by Abebaw and several of the 212 trucks owned by another sister company, Tana Transport Plc.
Mina Building is the latest in CBE is attempt to recover its loans that remained unpaid.
|
The new owner was not available for comment on her plan with the building, despite several attempts by Fortune to interview her.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 Addis Fortune. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
