Radhakishan Damani, billionaire investor and founder of DMart, is set to acquire an 8-acre land parcel in Thane from Mondelez India, formerly Cadbury India, for nearly Rs 250 crore, said three persons with direct knowledge of the development.
The plot is located at Pokharan Road 1, a key locality of Thane, and will be purchased through his family office, they said. The plot is estimated to have a total development potential of nearly 1 million sq ft given current development regulations.
“The deal is at a fairly advanced stage and is expected to be concluded anytime soon,” said one of the persons. “The plot is likely to see development of a mixed-use project with some high-street retail given its proximity to an upcoming metro station, while the balance is residential.”
Damani’s family office is said to be currently undertaking due diligence. It couldn’t be ascertained if he’s planning to develop the plot on his own or with a developer. According to real estate consultants, current property prices in the vicinity are at Rs 10,000-12,000 per sq ft.
“We are monetising some land in excess of our needs in Thane. We will be unable to comment any further,” a Mondelez India spokesperson told ET. Damani didn’t respond to queries. Transaction advisor CBRE South Asia declined to comment.
In the backdrop of the increasing preference for alliances and joint development of land holdings, this will be one of the few instances of an outright purchase in recent times at this scale. Over the past few years, several realty developers have reworked their business strategies to focus on asset-light models, such as joint development, to reduce the upfront capital cost and cope with liquidity pressure.
A Mumbai-based realty developer had shown interest in acquiring the land parcel last year, but the deal could not be concluded. In the last few years, several multinational companies such as Mondelez have been monetising non-core assets, mainly real estate, by selling them off.
In one of the largest real estate transactions in 2013, Mondelez India sold Mumbai landmark Cadbury House for about Rs 350 crore to diamond trader Dilipkumar Lakhi.
With several infrastructure initiatives aimed at improving connectivity, realty developers have been venturing into the micro-market of Thane. Oberoi Realty recently entered into an agreement to buy 60 acres from GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals in the area for Rs 555 crore.
In 2019, Singapore-based global investment firm Xander Group’s retail arm Virtuous Retail South Asia (VRSA) acquired about 20 acres in Thane from textile firm Raymond for over Rs 710 crore.
Godrej Properties acquired a 4-acre parcel on Thane’s Ghodbunder Road to develop a residential project in September 2018.
