Private equity giant Blackstone, which manages assets worth $210 billion globally, is upping the ante in the Indian property mart. The firm, which has invested $1 billion in the country's commercial and residential assets in just two years, is again on the prowl for investment targets.
On the table are two properties - the Express Towers in Mumbai and the Mantri Mall in Bangalore - both of which are valued at under Rs 1,000 crore each, said multiple sources aware of Blackstone's real estate play. While Blackstone has its India head office located on the fifth floor of Express Towers and has a bird's eye view of what's on offer, a detailed due diligence was carried out on Mantri Mall a couple of months back.
Sources cited earlier told TOI that Blackstone has put the Mantri deal on simmer as it is working on a possible structured debt transaction through its NBFC arm to invest in the 1.7 million sq ft mall, which has been in operation for three years. If the Mantri deal does go through, it would be Blackstone's maiden retail real estate play in India.
Sources told TOI that while senior executives of Blackstone have been presented with a brochure on Express Towers, toplevel executives from Embassy Office Parks are planning to go to Mumbai to get a walk-through of the 25-storey building, which has a built up area of approximately 4 lakh sq ft.
ICICI Ventures and Viveck Goenka, CMD of the Indian Express Group, jointly own the four-decade-old Express Towers along with a clutch of smaller investors . The property, which has a commanding view of the Arabian Sea, has a reserve price of Rs 850 crore, said one of the sources mentioned earlier.
Blackstone and Mantri Developers declined to comment, when contacted, while ICICI Ventures MD and CEO Vishakha Mulye couldn't be reached for a comment on the Express Towers deal. Real estate consultant Jones Lang Lasalle India , who was mandated by ICICI Ventures to seek out buyers, also declined to comment.
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