ICICI Bank, Indiabulls arms bid Rs 600 cr for Parsvnath plot

ICICI Bank's domestic real estate fund and Indiabulls Real Estate have bid between Rs 500 crore and rs 600 crore for developer Parsvnath's 1.2-acre plot at Kasturba Gandhi Marg in New Delhi. Sahara, Bhushan Steel and Red Fort Capital had also bid for the centrally-located property earlier.  The plot, housing an old bungalow, falls under the commercial zone, where the buyer will be able to use about 150,000 sq ft space, including parking. The developer had obtained approvals for the building plan from the local authority last week. "The final price-bidding will start now," said an executive who did not wish to be named. Pradeep Jain, managing director of Parsvnath Developers, declined to comment. Earlier, he had told ET that though the company had originally planned a commercial project on the plot, selling it could help reduce debt. Parsvnath had accumulated a net debt of Rs 1,300 crore at the end of December 2011, when it reported a 28% quarterly drop in consolidated net profit even as net revenue rose 7%. The company has nearly halved its debt over the past two years by selling its non-core assets. It is in the process of selling a few land parcels that it owns in Kochi and Chennai as well. The company had bought the plot in 2008 for 200 crore from Mahajan Industries, which had a joint venture with the Dhoot family of Videocon. The plot is situated opposite the American Center, just outside the Lutyens' Bungalow Zone. Parsvnath had said in January that it had appointed property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle to market the property. Along with private equity fund Red Fort Capital, Parsvnath is building an office complex in central Delhi on a five-acre plot that it had got from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. It had also bought a 38.3-acre plot in Sarai Rohilla in central Delhi in an auction by Rail Land Development Authority for Rs 1,651.51 crore. Last year, JP Morgan had invested Rs $30 million in the company's residential project in north Delhi's Civil Lines, which provided an exit opportunity to Red Fort Capital that had invested Rs 115 crore in the project in 2009. Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news-/icici-bank-indiabulls-arms-bid-rs-600-cr-for-parsvnath-plot/articleshow/12710182.cms