The group, for starters, has sold a 10.5-acre land parcel on Old Madras Road in North-East of Bangalore for Rs 70 crore (Rs 700 million) to Bangalore-based real estate developer Brigade Enterprises.
According to a statement from Brigade, it purchased the land parcel through an auction process, which saw three more realty players in the fray. The statement further added that the parcel of land was held by ERL, a division of BPL Group. It is located in Bangalore's growth corridor close to the peripheral ring road and close to Bangalore International Airport and the IT corridor (Whitefield).
Confirming the development, M R Jaishankar, chairman and managing director, Brigade Group said, "The location of the land promises considerable growth and will help us develop 1.5 million square feet of built-to-suit office space or residential development in the next three to four years."
The auction was conducted by Pegasus Assets Construction Pvt Ltd and Deutsche Bank, the stakeholders. According to sources in the industry, Pegasus is understood to be an investment arm of promoters of BPL Group. However, no confirmation was available from BPL Group.
Industry estimates indicate that BPL Group is sitting on vast land banks in Bangalore, the total worth of which is expected to be close to Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.5 billion). These assets on which BPL's factories were located had passed onto Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd (ARCIL) after BPL defaulted on its debts to the tune of Rs 1,400 crore (Rs 14 bilion).
Sources indicate that Deutsche Bank had brought these assets back from ARCIL along with the promoters of BPL Group, post which these land banks are being put on the block. Indications are also that the promoters of BPL are also expected to go in for joint development of some land parcels.
The consumer durables group, at one point in the 90s, was among the top television manufacturers in addition to various consumer durables. The business house started by T P G Nambiar fell on bad times due to strong competition from Korean rivals, while BPL had forayed into vertical integration and diversification into power generation.
