India's Unitech denies Blackstone asset sale report

By Staff Reporter

May 23, 2012 08:50 AM EDT

Unitech, India's No. 3 property developer, on Wednesday denied a newspaper report that it was in talks to sell three of its assets for about 30 billion rupees ($541 million) to U.S. private-equity firm Blackstone.

Unitech said the Economic Times report was "factually incorrect" and that the company was not in discussions with either Blackstone or any other investor to sell the assets.

The Economic Times report said Unitech was in talks to sell three of its assets - two special economic zones (SEZs) i n the northern Indian cities of Gurgaon and Noida, and a technology park in Kolkata - to Blackstone.

The assets are owned by Unitech Corporate Parks, in which Unitech has a 45 percent stake, the report said, adding that the assets sale was part of Unitech's plan to reduce its debt of about 53 billion rupees ($956 million).

"Unitech is focused on developing and leasing these SEZs," the company said in a statement.

An external spokeswoman for Blackstone did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

Earlier in May, Unitech said its quarterly profit slumped 98 percent because of high borrowing costs and a slowdown in house sales.

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