DLF has reportedly sealed Mumbai’s NTC Mill land deal with the Lodha group on Thursday, Aug 9. According to sources close to development the top management of the Lodha Group are in Delhi for signing of the memorandum of understanding with DLF.
DLF refused to comment, an announcement on the deal, pegged at over Rs 2,500 crore, is expected next week.
DLF had bought 17.5 acres in 2005 from the National Textile Mills in Mumbai for about Rs 703 crore. It now wants to sell this land as part of its strategy to divest non-core assets to reduce its debt, which currently stands at Rs 22,725 crore.
DLF and the Lodhas had hit a roadblock recently over the payment modalities for the land deal. While DLF insisted on the entire payment coming in one go, Lodhas wanted to go for a staggered payment option, according to market sources. The deal amount might have been lowered, from Rs 2,725 crore earlier, as a compromise formula to go for a one-time payment, sources said.
“Hopefully you would get some announcement in a short time”, Ashok Tyagi, DLF chief financial officer, had said in the analyst call after the first quarter results were announced.
India’s largest realty player had earlier talked about closing its three big ticket deals–NTC Mill land in Mumbai, Aman Hotels and Resorts and wind energy business–by September 2012 and then strategise for the other round of non-core assets. However, now the company has not set a new timeline to close the three deals.
In the analyst call, the company said it aimed to cut debt by Rs 5,000 crore by end of March 2013. The company’s net profit declined 18 per cent in the quarter ended June from Rs 292 crore versus Rs 358 crore in the corresponding quarter in 2011-12.
