Coffee Day to sell its tech park to Blackstone for ₹3,000 crore

Coffee Day Enterprises Limited (CDEL) on Wednesday said that its board has decided to sell Global Village Tech Park held by its real estate subsidiary Tanglin Developments Limited to private equity major Blackstone for a price between ₹2,600 crore and ₹3,000 crore.

The technology park near Mysore Road in Bengaluru is a 120-acre campus providing leased office spaces to companies such as Mindtree, Accenture, and Mphasis among others.

“The company has entered into a non-binding letter of intent [with Blackstone]. The transaction closure is subject to completion of Blackstone’s due diligence, documentation and receipt of requisite regulatory approvals, which is expected in the next 30-45 days,” CDEL said in a filing to the exchanges.

“The board takes the opportunity to thank Blackstone for their professional and transparent approach and quick turnaround time displayed under adverse market conditions,” read the company statement.

This is the first major board decision after the unexpected death of V.G. Siddhartha, chairman and managing director of CDEL, the owner and operator of India’s largest cafe chain, Cafe Coffee Day. On July 31 Siddhartha’s body was fished out of the Nethravathi river in Mangaluru 36 hours after he was reported missing.

According to local authorities, Siddhartha’s death was a case of suicide. A purported letter written by Siddhartha suggested that he was under immense financial stress. According to various reports, CDEL has a debt of more than Rs 6,000 crore, while Siddhartha’s personal debt exceeded Rs 1,000 crore. The board is examining the letter.

The board of CDEL has also provided its in-principal approval for disinvestment in its step-down subsidiary, AlphaGrep Securities Pvt. Ltd, in favour of Illuminati Software Pvt. Ltd. for about ₹28 crore.

The Bengaluru-based CDEL pointed out that the two transactions will significantly help in deleveraging the Coffee Day Group, and ensure smooth operations while safeguarding the interests of all stakeholders including investors, lenders, employees and customers.

In FY19, Coffee Day Enterprises reported a consolidated profit of ₹147.2 crore on a revenue of ₹4,264.4 crore. CDEL’s share prices closed at ₹66.25 a piece on Wednesday, down 5%, hitting a 52-week low. It has fallen by 66% since July 29, the day Siddhartha was reported missing.