India's largest realty firm DLF today said it has shortlisted few potential investors to sell promoters' stake in rental arm and expects the proposed deal, estimated at Rs 12,000 crore, to be signed by early October.
Last October, DLF had announced that its promoters would sell 40 per cent stake in DLF Cyber City Developers (DCCDL). They would be reinvesting a significant part of the amount realised from this deal into DLF Ltd.
"We received multiple bids from sovereign funds and global private equity firms. We have shortlisted few," DLF Senior Executive Director (Finance) Saurabh Chawla told analysts in a conference call.
He said the investors are doing due diligence process, which is expected to get completed next month.
"Post which, we will get binding agreements from them in form of shareholder agreement or share purchase agreement," Chawla said, adding the company would then negotiate with the investors.
"By the end of September or early October, we should be able to guide the market about the culmination of this transaction," Chawla said.
Earlier, sources had said Blackstone, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are among shortlisted investors.
DLF's CFO Ashok Tyagi said the company is incurring about Rs 250 crore a month on interest cost and the same is expected to come down significantly after this deal.
"The conclusion of the transaction will be an important step to create two 'pure plays' - a DevCo (development) business with a nominal net debt, 100 per cent owned by DLF and an independent RentCo (rental) business in which DLF shall have a 60 per cent stake," it said in an analyst presentation.
All bidders are aligned to create a platform in partnership on a long-term basis to own and develop commercial assets and acquire assets inorganically in the marketplace, DLF said.
DCCDL has about 25-26 million sq ft of leased commercial space with an annual rental income of about Rs 2,250 crore. It also has 20 million sq ft of future development potential.
Yesterday, DLF reported over twofold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 261.42 crore for the quarter ended June 30, from Rs 125.87 crore in the year-ago period.
Income from operations fell 22 per cent to Rs 1,867.46 crore during the first quarter of the current fiscal, from Rs 2,388.72 crore in the year-ago period.
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