Actis picks Garden City CEO for joint venture

London-based private equity (PE) firm Actis and Indian developer Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate have appointed Garden City boss to run their new residential joint venture.

Chris Coulson has been running Garden City development — which houses Garden City Mall, Garden City Business Park and Residences, a role he will continue to play.

“We are very pleased to have Chris as the CEO of this new home builder platform. We look forward to leveraging his expertise and track record in steering the company forward,” said Koome Gikunda, director at Actis.

The PE firm had earlier this month announced that its new Sh12 billion joint venture with the Indian company will develop affordable middle-income housing in Kenya, an undertaking that will now be spearheaded by Mr Coulson.

His career spans 25 years across both commercial and residential real estate, where he has acquired a wealth of emerging market experience having worked in Colombia, Brazil and across Eastern Europe.

Actis is also the developer of the 47-acre Garden City Mall, a mixed-use development that features retail, residential and office space.

Last year, the developer began construction of a Sh54 billion business park that will house the head offices of beer maker East African Breweries Limited.