Mumbai-based realty firm Godrej Properties Ltd has sold 49 per cent equity stake in its subsidiary Godrej Premium Builders Pvt Ltd to SUN-Apollo India Real Estate Fund for Rs 45 crore, the company has disclosed in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Under the deal, SUN-Apollo has paid Rs 18.3 crore to Godrej Properties for purchase of shares and the balance Rs 26.7 crore has been invested in Godrej Premium Builders which is currently developing a project in Gurgaon.
Godrej Properties’ scrip closed at Rs 618.10 on the BSE on Thursday, down 0.10 per cent from the previous close.
Incorporated in 1990, Godrej Properties operates as a real estate development company and focuses on residential, commercial and township developments. In October this year, the company sold 49.9 per cent stake in its Bangalore project to Motilal Oswal Private Equity for Rs 50 crore.
SUN-Apollo is a $630 million India-dedicated real estate private equity fund that invests in development and acquisition of assets across property types. It is a venture between the SUN Group, owned by the Khemka family and with operations in India, Russia and Eastern Europe, and AREA Property Partners (formerly Apollo Real Estate Advisors).
Although the private equity action in Indian real estate sector has been muted, there have been a few large deals this year, besides a string of small and mid-sized deals across income-generating developments.
In February 2011, Ascendas India Trust entered a deal to acquire a portfolio of five buildings in Phoenix Infocity Pvt Ltd’s SEZ for Rs 855 crore. Also, Kotak Realty Fund sold Peepul Tree Properties (an IT park in Goregaon) to Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd and Tata Realty Initiatives Fund 1 for Rs 525 crore.
Early this year, Blackstone invested around Rs 875 crore to buy 37 per cent stake in Manyata Promoters Pvt Ltd, a SEZ promoted by Bangalore-based real estate developer Embassy Property Developments Ltd, and the landowner Veeranna Reddy. The transaction was a secondary share purchase from the Embassy group that valued the SEZ at nearly $550 million. Blackstone has just struck another large deal where it has acquired Pune SEZ of DLF and Hubtown for Rs 810 crore.
