India’s second largest realtor by market value, Unitech Ltd, said that equity fund Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners, or LBREP, will buy a 50% stake in the initial phase of the company’s mixed use development project on the Western Expressway in Mumbai for around $175 million (Rs740 crore).Unitech and a Mumbai-based firm are jointly developing the project through a special purpose vehicle called the Western Expressway Joint Venture, or WEJV.LBREP, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’ real estate private equity fund, and WEJV will each contribute to 50% of the construction cost.
The initial phase of Unitech’s project involves developing 1 million sq. ft of office space out of the total developable area of some 18 million sq. ft.
Unitech has hired US-based architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Llp. to design the master plan for the 100-acre project. WEJV plans to develop the project along the lines of Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, Canary Wharf in London and Battery Park in New York.
Unitech has scrapped plans for a $600 million sale of shares in a real estate investment trust in Singapore, joining rival DLF Ltd in shunning equity markets after stocks plummeted. The Gurgaon-based developer will seek $300 million from private equity firms to build hotels and shopping malls in India this year.
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