Unitech to sell Delhi office
Cash-Strapped Co Seen In Talks With HDFC, May Get Up To Rs 500 Crore Sanjeev Choudhary & Ravi Teja Sharma NEW DELHI INDIA'S second-largest property firm Unitech has put its 2 lakh sq ft office at upmarket Saket in New Delhi on the block. The market buzz goes that Unitech is in talks with HDFC to sell this property. Both firms, however, refused to confirm the deal. Both Unitech and HDFC admitted that the property was on the block, but didn't confirm the deal. "I cannot confirm till we sign a deal," Unitech chairman Ramesh Chandra said. HDFC joint managing director Renu Sud Karnad said Unitech wants to sell the property but HDFC was not interested in buying it. She said Unitech's Saket property was mortgaged with HDFC as collateral for the Rs 30 crore the company had lent to the real estate developer. HDFC's debt exposure to Unitech is much higher, said Ms Karnad. But a Unitech executive told ET that HDFC had agreed to buy the Saket property for Rs 450-500 crore and a formal agreement is likely to be signed by the end of this month. Most real estate firms have been facing a severe cash crunch as sales have slowed down and credit has become tight. With the real estate crisis deepening, rating agencies too have been downgrading realty firms. International rating agency Fitch recently downgraded Unitech's long-term rating from A+ to A- and short-term ratings from F1+ to F2+. Unitech's market cap has lost over 91% off its January peak. The company's shares closed at Rs 49 on Wednesday on BSE. * Project at its final stage * UNITECH'Soffice building, located near Sheraton hotel at Saket in New Delhi is nearing completion. The project is spread over two acres, which the realty firm had purchased three years ago for around Rs 127 crore. The building would have a leasable area of around 2 lakh sq ft. Unitech had earlier planned to shift its corporate office from Gurgaon to this building in Saket, but later decided to sell it off. According to property consultancy firms, the current office rental for grade A buildings in Saket is around Rs 225 per sq ft, while the purchase price could be around Rs 20,000-25,000 per sq ft. [EMAIL PROTECTED] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
