Godrej Industries Group's family office divests 4.4% stake in Sobha

Godrej Industries Group's family office arm Anamudi Real Estates LLP on Friday divested a 4.4 per cent stake in realty firm Sobha Ltd for Rs 858 crore via open market transactions.

According to the exchange data, Anamudi Real Estates LLP offloaded 47.37 lakh shares, amounting to a 4.43 per cent stake in Sobha Ltd.

Shares were disposed of at an average price of Rs 1,810.44 apiece, taking the transaction value to Rs 857.70 crore.

After the stake sale, Anamudi Real Estates' shareholding in Bengaluru-based Sobha declined to 5.57 per cent from 9.99 per cent.

Meanwhile, Mirae Asset Mutual Fund (MF), Invesco MF and Aditya Birla Sun Life MF acquired 23.09 lakh shares of Sobha.

Shares were acquired in the range of Rs 1,809.82-1,810.05 apiece, taking the combined transaction value to Rs 418.06 crore.

Details of other buyers could not be ascertained.

Sources said the Godrej Industries Group family office has sold shares in Sobha Ltd at a 10-times multiple of the original investments, including dividends over a four-year holding period.

The divestment is part of its strategy to monetise the investments, they added.

Sobha Ltd is one of the leading real estate developers in the country. It recently raised Rs 2,000 crore through a rights issue.

Shares of Sobha plunged 3.77 per cent to close at Rs 1,792.35 per piece on the BSE on Friday.

In a recent interview with PTI, Sobha Group founder PNC Menon said the Group has chalked out an aggressive expansion plan for its India business and will soon enter the Mumbai luxury housing market.

Sobha Group, which was founded in 1995, has real estate business in Dubai and India. The name of its Dubai entity is Sobha Realty, while the Indian entity is Sobha Ltd.

Sobha Ltd, which got listed on the Indian stock exchanges in 2006, is one of the leading real estate players in South India. It posted a 28 per cent growth in sales bookings during the last financial year to Rs 6,644.1 crore from Rs 5,197.8 crore in the preceding fiscal.

The company aims to achieve more than a four-fold jump in annual sales bookings to Rs 30,000 crore in the next 4-5 years, Menon had said.