Tuskys Supermarket on the Verge of Sh6 Billion Assets Loss

Tuskys Supermarket is facing the risk of losing around Sh6 billion worth of assets after the High Court appointed a liquidator.

Barely three months ago, the court ordered the liquidation of Tusker Mattresses Limited, the official name of the retailer, due to unpaid debts of Sh19.7 billion owed to multiple creditors. The court ruled that there was no viable plan to revive the struggling business and pay off its creditors. Tuskys' assets are estimated to be worth Sh6 billion, but this amount falls short of the debts owed to former suppliers and other creditors.

As a result of the liquidation, the supermarket will lose its assets in an auction including its headquarters on Mombasa Road and a five-story building in Nairobi's central business district. Tuskys had 63 stores at the peak of its operations but only a few remain. Last Friday, the Kenya Gazette and local newspapers published the appointment of Mr Koimburi as the interim liquidator by the High Court in Nairobi.

The liquidation order was signed on August 31, following the retailer's financial struggles since 2020 when creditors began pursuing it. Equity Bank, a secured creditor, advertised the auction of the five-storey CBD-based building over a Sh650 million loan advanced in 2014. The retailer failed to convince the court to rule against Equity's pursuit of the property. Earlier this year, the retailer closed another outlet on Kenyatta Avenue due to financial difficulties, leaving the Tom Mboya Street-based outlet as the only one remaining within the Nairobi CBD.

“More fundamentally though is the undisputed fact that the bank is a secured creditor. As a secured creditor, the bank is entitled to exercise its statutory power of sale without recourse to the court exercising insolvency jurisdiction,” Justice Majanja ruled.