Realty firm Vatika Ltd July 9 said it has repaid loans worth Rs 500 crore to Indiabulls Housing Finance and HDFC by monetising its land bank and commercial assets. "Vatika repaid Rs 80 crore to HDFC and nearly Rs 420 crore to Indiabulls Housing Finance for their respective project-level debt exposure. The debt repayment has been financed through a combination of monetisation of its land parcels and commercial assets," the company said in a statement.
Vatika had raised this fund in a phased manner since 2013.
To cut its debt, the company decided to monetise two of its prime land parcels, including a 15-acre plot in the prime area of Gurugram, apart from the sale of residential apartments at its projects, Vatika said.
It also monetised commercial assets by availing Lease Rental Discounting (LRD) to raise funds for this round of debt repayment, the statement said.
Vatika Group is looking to sell more land parcels and avail lease rental discounting. It has leased over 2.1 million sq ft of commercial space and has sold 525 residential units over the past couple of quarters.
"We are looking to reduce our debt by nearly Rs 750 crore to Rs 1,000 crore over the next 8-9 months without compromising on our focus on developing integrated townships, commercial and residential projects," Vatika CFO Anirban Mukhopadhyay said.
The company has a land bank of nearly 300 acres in New Gurugram for development, he said.
"We are also in talks with a private equity firm to form an alliance for an affordable housing project on part of our 225-acre land parcel in New Gurgaon," he said.
In 2017, Vatika Group regained 100 per cent equity stake in Vatika Hotels by providing exit to Goldman Sachs on its Rs 300 crore investment.
"Other investors like Baer Capital and Wells Fargo (erstwhile Wachovia Bank) have also completely exited from the company. However, Singapore's sovereign fund GIC which had invested in Vatika Group projects in 2014 still remains invested," the statement said.
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