Indiabulls to sell London property for £200 mn

Indiabulls Real Estate on Saturday said the firm’s shareholders have approved a proposal to sell its London property to promoters for £200 million, in an annual general meeting held on September 28.

Earlier, the firm had disclosed its plans to focus on its India business and cut down on debt. The resolution to sell the property was approved by the requisite majority of shareholders, stated a BSE filing by the company.

In the notice for AGM, the company had said: “In light of continuing Brexit related issues and uncertainty around it, the London property market remains sluggish. The Pound has also had a sustained depreciation from around the time of Brexit referendum result.”

The continued uncertainty regarding Brexit continues to provide headwinds for both the London property market and the pound, it said.

According to an assessment with lenders, a further loan of approximately £133 million will be availed to complete the ongoing construction on 22 Hanover Square property (London property), and the firm would not like to incur this further additional debt on its own balance sheet the statement said.

Explaining further, it had said, “To reduce debt and to have its more focus on the Mumbai and NCR markets, the board of the company, had on an earlier date, authorised and approved divestment of company's direct or indirect stake in the London property.”

It also said the promoter has come forward to acquire the property for £200 million — significantly above the cost of its acquisition, ie £161.5 million and CBRE, UK’S recent valuation of £189 million.