A long-running fight between Ugandan businessman Patrick Bitature and Vantage Capital has gone a notch higher with the lender seeking to auction the jewels of Bitature’s real estate empire in Kampala.

Vantage Capital, based in South Africa and one of the continent’s largest mezzanine debt providers, has retained auctioneers to sell off some of Bitature’s key properties. They include the 30-unit Elizabeth Royal Apartments in Kololo, Skyz Hotel in Naguru, and Moyo Close Apartments, also in Kololo.

The properties are owned by Bitature’s Simba Telecom Limited but were mortgaged under his real estate holding company, Simba Properties Investment Company Limited.

The dispute goes back to 2014 when Vantage Capital lent Bitature $10 million to invest in the 14-unit Moyo Close Apartments and the Skyz Hotel in Naguru which were both still under construction. It was the first investment the South African lender was making in Uganda.

“Vantage brings an important and exciting new model of financing to the East African region. Simba Group is pleased to have found a strong mezzanine financing partner who provides medium-term growth capital but does not want to take our hard-earned equity,” Patrick Bitature, the founder and chairman of Simba Group said at the time.

Warren van der Merwe, the chief operating officer of the Mezzanine capital provider, gushed: “Simba has managed to build an impressive and successful group of businesses, through a combination of entrepreneurial flair and highly professional management. “Theirs is the kind of story that underpins our Pan African investment strategy of supporting mid-market family-owned businesses that are seeking to raise growth capital without having to dilute their shareholding. This is the kind of Group we would like to back in future transactions.