Debt-laden Anil Ambani to lease out head office

Mumbai: High debt pile has forced embattled Anil Ambani to offer his group headquarters in suburban Santacruz on a long-term lease and move back operations to a south Mumbai building.

The group's flagship infra arm Reliance Infrastructure, which is sitting on a debt of over Rs 6,000 crore, Monday said it has put Reliance Centre on the block for a long-term lease.

"Reliance Infrastructure plans to monetise its headquarters-Reliance Center- in Santa Cruz (East) by way of long-term lease," the company said.

The company will utilise the proceeds from the lease for debt reduction, it added and has appointed property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle for assisting it in the deal.

Apart from RInfra, group's bankrupt telecom arm RCom has so far received claims over Rs 57,500 crore at the NCLT of which over Rs 7,000 crore are from its own group entities.

The Reliance Centre is spread around 0.7 million sqft and has covered parking space for 425 cars.

The move to relocate his headquarters to the suburbs was a big change, as the both groups were operating from south Mumbai.

The RInfra statement said staff operating from Reliance Center will be relocated to multiple properties owned by the group across the city, including Ballard Estate.

RInfra, however, did not divulge more details on the deal, even as media reports stated that the company is in talks with some global private equity firms, including Blackstone and another US-based fund.

According to an industry expert, the property is likely to garner good interest as the commercial real estate in the megapolis is going through low vacancy levels now.