The founders of India's top-listed realty, DLF Ltd, are in talks with
private equity funds such as Blackstone Group and Bahrain-based Taib
Bank to sell a majority stake in an affiliate, the Economic Times said.
The deal, if finalised, would fetch DLF Assets around $450-$500
million, the newspaper said on Wednesday, adding the private equity arm
of JPMorgan was also in talks.
A senior team from Taib Bank was in New Delhi last week holding
talks with DLF Assets, the paper said, citing an unnamed person
involved in the development.
“The deal would see a consortium of PE firms investing in DLF
Assets,” the paper quoted an investment banker close to the development
as saying.
“Over five to seven PE firms are in negotiations with DLF Assets.
None of them are willing to invest the required funds alone and all are
negotiating to invest in the range of $50-$100 million,” it said.
A DLF spokesman said he had no comment on the report.
Earlier this month, DLF Ltd Vice Chairman Rajiv Singh had said DLF
was looking to sell stakes in DLF Assets property trust to private
equity firms to raise 20-25 billion rupees ($403-$503 million) during
the March quarter.
DLF had originally planned to list the property trust in Singapore,
but a global equity markets meltdown forced it to shelve the public
issue last year.
Singh had also said the group was exploring possibilities of listing it during the next financial year.
Developers in India have been facing a cash crunch as a faltering economy dented demand.
The Mint newspaper said on Wednesday DLF had decided to relaunch
its premium residential project in the southern city of Bangalore by
slashing prices by a third and reducing the size.
Source: Reuters