Supertech plans to monetise 1 mn sq ft retail space in Noida for Rs 12 bn

Realty firm Supertech plans to raise about Rs 12 billion by monetising its 1 million sq ft retail space in a mixed-use project at Noida, a top company official said.

The company is in advanced stages of talks with some private equity players to sell retail space in the Supernova project, its Chairman R K Arora said.

In the 17.5-acre premium project Supernova, Supertech is developing five towers at an investment of around Rs 55 billion.

"We are looking to monetise our commercial space to raise funds for our ongoing projects and reduce debt," Arora told PTI.

"The discussions with private equity players and some other investors are in advanced stages," he said, adding that he expects the deal to conclude shortly.

However, he did not disclose the names of parties with whom discussions were on.

Arora said the company has a debt of around Rs 25 billion, raised from banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs).

"We have not defaulted on our loans. Our all loans are regular," he said, but agreed that there was some 15 days' delay in interest payment to one bank.

Arora said there is a huge appetite for office and retail space among institutional investors because of good rental yields. The government's decision to launch Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) has also boosted the commercial segment.

Supertech had in December last year raised Rs 4.3 billion from Altico Capital to fund its ongoing housing project in Noida and repay debt. It had raised Rs 3.5 bilion from L&T Finance in September last year to complete its 'Eco-Village 1' housing project, comprising 7,500 units, in Noida Extension.

The Noida-based firm has started delivery in two 44-storey towers of the Supernova project. It has built 575 units in these two towers. An office tower with one million sq ft of a leasable area would be completed by the end of this year.

This project will also have an 80-storey tower comprising 600 studio apartments and 250 flats and another tower having a 250-room hotel and 80 Armani branded residences. About one million sq ft of a retail area would also come up in this project.

The entire project is expected to be completed in the next two-three years.

In July, Supertech had said it will invest about Rs 800 crore this fiscal on the construction of various projects to achieve targeted delivery of 10,000 flats.

It is also eyeing its sales booking to rise to Rs 30 billion during 2018-19 on the back of improved demand, especially for ready to move in apartments.

Supertech has delivered 40,000 units in the last 30 years and is currently working on 60,000 flats across 35 projects, mostly in Noida, Greater Noida and Gurugram.

The company also has projects in Ghaziabad, Meerut, Muradabad, Dehradun, Haridwar, Rudrapur and Bengaluru.