Nairobi, Aug. 17 -- The High Court has blocked construction company EPCO Builders from attaching and selling assets of a Limuru-based cereals manufacturer, Proctor & Allan (EA) Limited, to recover a Sh150 million debt.

Instead, the court gave Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) priority over the same property as the lender claims Sh4.9 billion from the manufacturer.

The judge dismissed EPCO's bid and ruled that KCB's floating charge had crystallised before EPCO completed execution of a court decree, placing the bank's secured claim ahead of EPCO's despite the auctioneer having already proclaimed the assets.

The dispute followed an arbitration arising from a 2014 construction agreement between EPCO and Proctor & Allan. The tribunal awarded EPCO...