Anil Ambani group in talks to sell or lease its Mumbai headquarters: report

Group chairman Anil Ambani is reported to be in talks with a group of global private equity firms to either sell his Mumbai headquarters or lease it out for the long term 

A report in The Economic Times said the Reliance Centre in Santacruz is looking for a valuation of Rs3,000 crore for the property that is widely expected to fetch Rs1,500-2,000 crore.

The buyout firms include Blackstone and another US-based fund, reports citing sources said. 

However, the report said the 700,000 square feet Reliance Centre is caught in a legal tangle, which could pose a roadblock to the sale.

Ambani plans to return to his Ballard Estate office in South Mumbai, the report said. The company aims to monetise its real estate to generate cash to pay off its debt obligations following the ratings downgrade of its group companies. International property consultant JLL may be appointed to advice on the deal, the report quoted sources as saying.

After clearing Adani Transmission’s purchase of Reliance Infrastructure’s retail electricity distribution in 2017, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) ruled that since the Santacruz headquarters was kept out of the deal with Adani, the latter could not seek concessions to build office space as a similar leeway had already been granted to R- Infra, the report quoted sources as saying.

A case is also pending before the Appellate tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) after a group of consumers approached the tribunal, arguing that the land should either be transferred to Adani Transmission or users must be granted a concession on their bills equivalent to the sale value of about Rs2,000 crore.

Ambani had said earlier that Reliance Capital is adopting the 'death of debt' policy and that the group plans to bring down its debt by 50 per cent through stake sales this fiscal.