Sahara acquires 25-acre plot in Bangalore for Rs 149 Crore

The Sahara Group has acquired a 25-acre plot in Bangalore's information technology hub Whitefield, originally owned by the television and white goods maker BPL, for Rs 149 crore, and plans to build offices and a hotel there. 

The real estate to retail conglomerate Sahara has bought the plot of land from the Asset Reconstruction Company of India (Arcil), which had picked it up under the SARFAESI Act from a clutch of banks and financial Institutions after BPL defaulted on its debt payments a few years ago. 

Sahara confirmed the transaction. "The assets have been acquired from Arcil and will be utilised as per the main objects of the company. The payments were made as per the terms of bidding process and till date we have paid Rs 100 crore," Abhijit Sarkar, head of corporate communications for the group, said. 

Arcil did not respond to an email sent by Media. 

The land was owned by two BPL group companies, BS Appliances and BS Refrigerators. Arcil acquired this property under SARFAESI Act from various banks and financial Institutions after BPL defaulted on its debts payment. 

According to the terms of the bid, this land in Whitefield can only be used for a commercial development. Sahara is planning to build a mixed-used commercial building here which will have a hotel and an office tower, said sources, who did not want to be named. 

Sahara, however, did not specify the kind of development it is planning. 

The tender document floated by Arcil quoted a reserve price for the two land parcels owned by BS Appliances and BS Refrigerators at 39 crore and 55 crore, respectively. It mentioned that the successful bidder would have to pay dues of around 49.37 crore to the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board to get the sale deed and also clear labour dues. 

Sahara's group companies Sahara India Real Estate Corp and Sahara Housing Investment Corp were recently under the spotlight with the market regulator Sebi charging them for illegalities in raising funds.

RMZ Ecoworld leases office space to Honeywell for Rs 58 crore annually in Bangalore

Global technology firm Honeywell Technology Solutions (HTS) is taking up a million sq ft of office space in Bangalore, making it the second-biggest office leasing deal in the country in the last two years. At 48 per sq ft, Honeywell Technology Solutions will pay an annual rental of close to Rs 58 crore for the office space in RMZ's special economic zone, RMZ Ecoworld, people familiar with the transaction said. 

A spokesperson for Honeywell confirmed the transaction but did not give any details. "As we continue to be locally invested, we were looking at efficiencies and co-location synergies to enable better optimisation and productivity opportunities," the spokesperson said in an emailed response. 

Bangalore-headquartered HTS is the captive technology and engineering facility of the $37-billion US firm Honeywell International. 

In terms of space, its deal with RMZ, which was handled by property consultant CBRE, is the second largest in the country's office space segment in the last two years after Goldman Sachs took up 1.6 million sq ft in the city a year ago. 

According to people familiar with the matter, HTS will use close to 5 lakh sq ft of the space for consolidating its existing offices in the city while the rest will be used for business expansion. 

"Our plans are in line with long-term direction and strategy and will be taken up in a phased approach," the HTS spokesperson said. 

The 50-acre RMZ Ecoworld, earlier known as Adarsh Tech Park, was picked up recently by RMZ and Baring Private Equity Partners for Rs 1,000 crore. In it, RMZ got 1.4 million sq ft of built and leased space and rights to build another 6 million sq ft of office space on the land parcel on the outer ring road in Bangalore. 

People close to the development said HTS had been in talks with RMZ and Mantri Developers for office space as it wanted to move out of its office at Kalyani Tech Park in south Bangalore in view of the upcoming metro rail work there. HTS decided to go with RMZ because it already has space in the SEZ, which was earlier run by Adarsh Developers. 

The deal is good news for the domestic commercial office business, which is showing sign of revival after remaining depressed for a year. Businesses hired more office space in the first quarter of 2013 compared with a year ago, according to CBRE. 

Data provided by two property advisors last month showed office space absorption had dropped from about 35 million sq ft in 2011 to 26 million sq ft in 2012. Leasing of office space is widely seen as an indicator of business sentiment in a country.