Godrej Properties to raise Rs.500-600 crore to reduce debt

Herald Globe (IANS) Friday 10th February, 2012

Godrej Properties Ltd, the real estate arm of the Godrej Group, plans to raise Rs.500-600 crore through the institutional placement programme (IPP) soon to reduce its debt burden and is also looking at private equity investors, a senior company official said Friday.

Speaking to reporters here, executive director Pirojsha Godrej said: "The company is planning to raise Rs.500-600 crore from IPP this quarter or next. This will reduce our debt which is currently at Rs.2,000 crore."

He said the Godrej Properties will also be looking at roping in private equity players for individual projects in order to reduce the debt component in the project cost.

The promoters would like to bring their holdings to 75 percent from the current 84 percent and comply with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regulations.

According to Godrej, the company is looking at developing more real estate projects in the 12 cities where it is already present like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore.

Godrej Properties is developing around 75 million square feet of property with varying completion time frame.

Godrej Properties Friday launched its first premium residential project Godrej Palm Grove here.

The project spread across 12.5 acres consist of 16 and 19 storey towers with a total of 1,556 apartments is developed in joint venture with Addison Co Ltd.

The project offers amenities like a 22,500 sq. ft club house, a swimming pool, a well equipped gymnasium, a squash court, a tennis court, a skating rink, a central plaza, intercom connectivity, a department store, reticulated piped cooking gas, a meditation center and a party hall.