Vantage Capital, an African mezzanine fund manager, announced last week that it has provided $8 million of funding to Rosslyn Riviera Shopping Mall, a 10,777sqm convenient neighbourhood shopping mall in the upmarket suburb of Rosslyn/Runda in Nairobi that officially opened for trading in 2017.  It sits on a 4.5 acre site and offers visitors a selected blend of shopping, consisting of grocery, fashion, dining, health, wellness and entertainment establishments. Tenants include Java House, Chandarana Supermarket, New Cafe and many more.

Mokgome Mogoba, Associate Partner at Vantage Capital, said:

“Rosslyn Riviera is a state of the art shopping mall, developed to extremely high standards, with all the right characteristics we consider befitting the only modern neighbourhood mall in Kenya. It is located in a prime affluent area in the city of Nairobi. Direct access to a major highway provides the tenants with excellent visibility including abundant conveniently accessible parking for their customers. The mall has managed to attract high-quality tenants such as Chandarana Supermarkets, Java House, News Café and Nairobi Hospital and is led by a very competent management team. This investment in a leading retail property development in the heart of Nairobi demonstrates Vantage Capital’s commitment to Kenya and the East African region as a whole.”

Warren van der Merwe, Chief Operating Officer of Vantage Capital, added:

Kenya has always been of strategic importance for Vantage, and therefore we are pleased with our 1st transaction in the country and to be investing in a premium asset such as Rosslyn Riviera.  Peter Gethi and his entire team have done an exceptional job developing the mall and we are extremely confident in their ability to further the future success of the project.”

Peter Gethi, Director and CEO of Thaara Ltd, the developer of Rosslyn Riviera said:

“We are indeed glad for the confidence Vantage Capital has placed in this project and certainly welcome their partnership with us. We are looking forward to the exciting journey ahead.”

The investment is Vantage Capital’s 7th transaction in Fund III, a $280 million fund, with a 55% allocation to countries outside South Africa. Less than 6 months ago, Vantage Capital provided $12.5 million of funding to Maryland Mall, another neighbourhood mall in Lagos, Nigeria backed by Purple Capital Partners and Network Hotels Limited. Other transactions include the mezzanine funding to Landmark Africa to finance construction of a mixed-use development in Victoria Island – Lagos, refinance existing debt, and fund working capital and other capital expenditure.

Werksmans Attorneys and Bowmans Kenya acted as legal counsel to Vantage in South Africa and Kenya respectively. Thaara was advised by the Meghraj Capital, I&M Burbidge Capital and Hamilton Harrison & Mathews.