Raymond sells its Thane plot to a private equity firm for Rs 700 crore.

Private equity retail arm Xander has agreed to purchase 20 acres of land in J K Gram, Thane, from the largest textile company Raymond Ltd for Rs 700 crore. Another Rs 1,700 crore will be invested by the buyer to develop the site. The plot at the Raymond Junction near the Singhania School has a significant location value. Xander’s vision is for a corporate office-cum-retail complex to be established.

“Prime land plots of this size are rarely transacted, particularly in major metropolitan markets such as Mumbai. We were waiting for the ideal opportunity patiently to expand our portfolio in Mumbai,” said, Sid Yog, Chairman of Virtuous Retail.

Almost 20 million customer visits are estimated annually with around 4,000 jobs generation, after developing the centre successfully in Thane.

Raymond sees sales of Thane as part of his debt pairing plan for asset monetisation.  For Raymond, land sales of Thane form part of his plan for equity currency. Raymond owned Thane Land along with its associates JK Investo and the net book value of the plot in fiscal 2018 was around Rs 4 lakh, which used the house for the textile mill. J K Investo gains Rs 465 crore from this transaction after having paid for taxes.

“This deal is a major FDI for Thane’s real estate. While our residential project Raymond Realty is in progress, the retail project will ensure a lively, eco-structured real estate network in its neighbourhood, which will give home buyers a better choice,” said Gautam Singhania, CMD of Raymond Ltd.

In the pre-independence period, the Thane textile plant, Raymond’s flagship factory, was set up. It took the shutters down of the mill nine years ago because of the complexities of the market. Raymond obtained clearances to develop the land for mixed-use projects after providing compensation to its workers.