Mumbai: Blackstone-Panchshil JV buys majority stake in Express Towers
The joint-venture company of US-based private equity (PE) company Blackstone and Pune-based property developer Panchshil Realty has recently acquired a major stake in Express Towers – located in Nariman Point in Mumbai – for approximately Rs 870 crore. The deal was finalized recently, after months of negotiations.
Express Towers is an iconic building which is owned by The Indian Express group’s Viveck Goenka, PE firm ICICI Venture, and The Indian Express’s former editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta. The total leasable area of the Express Towers building is 400,000 square feet; and there currently is 15-20 percent vacancy.
According to the details shared by two executives involved in the Express Towers deal, while the majority stake in Express Towers has been purchased by the Blackstone-Panchshil joint venture, Goenka and Gupta have retained minority stakes. However, ICICI Venture – which previously had a 50 percent stake – has completely exited the building.
The executives also revealed that the chunk of the proceeds from the Express Towers deal has gone to ICICI Venture. Though it was reported that ICICI Venture was apparently looking to fetch Rs 500-550 crore from the deal, the exact amount which the PE fund got from the deal has not been ascertained.
Meanwhile, revealing that Panchshil Realty was looking to lease unleased space in the Express Towers building, Panchshil Chairman Atul Chordia said: “Panchshil and Blackstone have bought a majority stake in the building.”
Source – Business Standard
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