I&M Bank Uganda is set to open a new branch in Ntinda at premises once occupied by Crane Bank and later caught up in a major property dispute involving Ugandan businessman Sudhir Ruparelia’s Meera Investments Limited and dfcu Bank.

The development marks a new chapter for the property years after Uganda’s High Court ordered dfcu Bank to vacate former Crane Bank premises following a dispute over the ownership and transfer of leasehold interests.

The Ntinda building was among 48 properties that housed former Crane Bank branches before the lender was placed under Bank of Uganda receivership in 2016. Its assets and liabilities were subsequently transferred to dfcu Bank in 2017, including leasehold interests in the properties.

Sudhir Ruparelia’s Meera Investments challenged property transfer

Meera Investments, a real-estate company associated with Ruparelia, challenged the transfer, arguing that it was the registered owner and landlord and that Crane Bank’s leases could not be transferred to dfcu without its consent.

In October 2023, the High Court’s Land Division ruled that the leasehold interests had been transferred to dfcu without Meera Investments’ prior written consent, as required under the lease agreements and applicable law.

The court ordered the cancellation of dfcu’s leasehold titles and directed the bank to give Meera vacant possession of the 48 properties.

It also declared dfcu a trespasser and awarded Meera Investments Shs2.4 billion in general damages, in addition to costs. dfcu maintained that it had already vacated the disputed branches in 2020 and said the properties had been acquired through its Purchase of Assets and Assumption Agreement with the Bank of Uganda. In February 2024, the High Court directed dfcu to formally hand over the properties.

I&M Bank returns banking to disputed property

The Ntinda property is now poised to return to banking operations under I&M Bank Uganda, creating another link between the lender and Ruparelia’s business interests.

I&M Bank has previously operated from Kingdom Kampala, a prominent commercial development associated with the Ruparelia Group. Its planned Ntinda branch would therefore place the bank in another property linked to the businessman’s real-estate empire.

The move comes as I&M Bank expands its physical footprint in Uganda, where it already operates branches and service centres in areas including Acacia, Kabalagala, Kololo, Kawempe and Ntinda.

For Ruparelia and Meera Investments, the development represents a significant transformation of a property once at the centre of Uganda’s closely watched Crane Bank takeover and subsequent litigation. The transition from Crane Bank to dfcu and now potentially I&M Bank underscores another chapter in the long-running dispute surrounding Ruparelia’s property interests and Uganda’s banking sector.