Unitech to sell tower business for Rs 750 crore

Unitech Ltd, the country’s second-largest real estate developer, is trying to sell its telecom tower making business for Rs 700-750 crore as part of its deleveraging initiative, a source familiar with the development said.

No details are available on the potential buyers. Unitech officials were not available for comment. The telecom tower manufacturing facility is based out of Nagpur. This subsidiary initially operated through a tie-up with Hyundai. Unitech later acquired the partner’s stake some years back.

Unitech has been planning to sell its non-core assets like hotels, commercial properties and land plots to reduce its debt. It has already sold a commercial office in Saket, south Delhi, for about Rs 500 crore, a Gurgaon hotel for Rs 230 crore and some school plots for Rs 35 crore.

This Delhi-based developer recently raised about $850 million through qualified institutional placement of shares and said it would use a part of the funds and the money raised by selling non-core assets to bring down debt to Rs 4,000 crore by the end of the current fiscal.

It currently has a debt of around Rs 7,000 crore. The developer would use the remaining funds to expand its affordable housing portfolio. It plans to sell over 20,000 homes this year under its Uni Homes brand. It has launched 9 million sq ft of projects, worth Rs 3,500 crore, between April and May, and has been able to sell over 3,000 units.