Indiabulls Real Estate rallies 3% on expansion plans in London

NEW DELHI: Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd rallied as much as 3 per cent in morning trade on Friday, after ET reported that the realty major has paid £155 million (Rs 1,550 crore) for a commercial property in London's Mayfair, marking the third significant realty investment in London by an Indian realtor since November 2013.

The Mumbai-based developer has bought an 87,444 sq ft property, 22 Hanover Square, in an auction from the Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, which is now part of Aberdeen Asset Management. Mayfair is an up-market London neighbourhood, home to the significantly wealthy, said the report.

At 09:30 a.m.; the stock pared some of the morning gains but was still trading 1.7 per cent higher at Rs 93.80. It hit a low of Rs 92 and a high of Rs 95 in trade today.

As per the report, Indiabulls is looking to finance the transaction through internal accruals, company officials said. It plans to convert the building — which is currently rented out to international property consultants, JLL — into a luxury residential property.

Buyers from India could constitute a significant chunk of apartment owners, company officials said.

The conversion, including the change in end-use, could take over two years, the officials said. Till then JLL would stay on as a tenant. Its lease on the building is till 2017, added the report.