Vikas Oberoi, promoter and chairman of Oberoi Realty Ltd, plans to sell his 50% stake in an upcoming 1.7 million sqft-mixed used development project being built by the company in Mumbai’s prime Worli area to investors.
The project comprising a luxury shopping mall, hotel and an office building, is being built over a 4-acre land parcel that the company acquired from GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd (GSK) for ₹104 crore in 2004.
The company has said it would invest over ₹800 crore in the project.
Given its prime location, the project could be worth as much as₹2,000 crore, according to estimates by property consultants.
Oberoi said he was looking at getting out of his personal investment in the project and sell it to a sovereign fund or third party who would partner with Oberoi Realty.
“The thought is to elegantly get out (of the project) in a way there is absolute transparency. We will walk our talk,” Oberoi said in an investor call on Monday evening.
The retail mall would span around 1 million sqft, while the rest of the space would be occupied by a hotel of around 80-90 rooms and an office building.
Oberoi told analysts that the company is looking at options and ways for his stake sale. “We are internally thinking on how do we do it and we do it in such a way that it is very transparent at arm’s length. We are absolutely mindful of the conflict of interest that I will have if I do anything otherwise.”
The Mumbai-based real estate firm, which is also building two other malls, was earlier in talks with private equity investors for its retail business. Oberoi had said the company would look at setting up a separate mall business with the idea of bringing in investors into the segment.
At present, the company operates a shopping mall at Goregaon suburb in Mumbai. In 2018-19, the mall achieved its highest revenue of ₹150 crore.
Source: Mint