Unitech Ltd is looking to dilute stake in its telecom venture to include a “strategic investor” in its plans to expand telecom operations.
Developer in talks with 3 foreign telecom players
NEW DELHI: Unitech Ltd, the New Delhi-based real estate developer, is looking to dilute stake in its telecom venture to include a “strategic investor” in its plans to expand telecom operations. The company is in talks with at least three foreign telecom players. Recent reports had suggested that Norwegian telecom group Telenor was interested in buying stake in Unitech’s telecom venture.
The Delhi-based developer has already invested Rs 2,000 crore in this arm and plans to raise about $1.2 billion by diluting stake in the subsidiary. Unitech divulged neither the name of the firms nor the amount it was looking at raising.
On the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry real estate summit, Sanjay Chandra, managing director, said talks with potential partners were on. “There are no numbers yet and over the next couple of weeks, you will be informed about any development,” he said. Sources close to the development said they were expecting an announcement next week.
Unitech will start its telecom operations by the first half of next year. “We will dilute about 26-45% stake. We’re looking for a strategic partner to help us out in this venture,” Chandra said.
Meanwhile, a source close to the development suggested that investment bank Goldman Sachs is eyeing a “low single-digit percentage stake” in Unitech, as the developer’s stocks are hugely discounted at the moment.
Unitech declined comment on this but said the company has finalised private equity funding, including for its hospitality venture. A final announcement will be made in November. In June, the developer had said it was looking to raise over “$1 billion over the next 12 months”, including $700-800 million for its Mumbai projects.
‘No default to Noida authority’
Unitech has clarified that there has been no default of payment to the Greater Noida Development Authority towards purchase of land. The developer bagged a 100-acre land deal in Greater Noida in 2006 to develop high-end housing project. Unitech said that construction is on at a normal pace, except on one patch of land where farmers are agitating. Sanjay Chandra, managing director, said, “We have not defaulted on any payment to Noida. For one of the construction sites, the government hasn’t been able to give us possession of land as there has been a farmers’ agitation.”
He said the company is in talks with the government. “We have 6 months to make our next payment. Overall, we owe around Rs 100 crore to the authorities which can be paid over the next 18 months,” Chandra told DNA Money.
s_vivek@dnaindia.net
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