SBM Bank Wins Priority in Sale of Cytonn's Sh650m Ruaka Apartment Project
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Kenya's High Court has upheld SBM Bank's priority in the liquidation of the Cytonn-backed Alma project in Ruaka, a 477-unit residential development, to recover a defaulted Sh650 million loan.
SBM Bank has won priority in the liquidation of a Cytonn-backed residential development project comprising 477 apartments in Ruaka, Kiambu, to recover a Sh650 million loan that went into default six years ago.
The High Court upheld SBM's right to enforce its security over The Alma, owned by Cytonn High Yield Solutions. The project sits on 4.67 acres and includes nine blocks of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, a commercial centre, swimming pool, gym, nursery, elevated playgrounds and more than 300 parking spaces.
The court also ruled that buyers who prove they fully paid for their apartments before the bank registered its charge in August 2019 can have those units excluded from the property available for sale, while buyers who transacted after the charge was registered remain subject to the bank's recovery because the encumbrance was a matter of public record.
The ruling was a setback to more than 25,000 investors of Cytonn High Yield Solutions and 110 homeowners who sought to join the liquidation case or stop the bank's recovery efforts. Cytonn High Yield Solutions was placed under liquidation in January 2023 after its administration failed to produce a rescue plan, and the Court of Appeal upheld the liquidation in November 2025.
The Alma, valued at about Sh1.43 billion, was among the Cytonn properties preserved for the liquidation process, alongside Kilimani, Amara Ridge, Superior Homes, RiverRun and other assets linked to creditor funds whose claims exceeded Sh11 billion.