Mumbai's Express Towers sold for Whopping 870 crore

As of 2011, the building's better known tenants include McKinsey & Company, Blackstone Group, Bank of America, Ernst & Young and Warburg Pincus besides the Indian Express Limited.

Last year, it got offer from various funds and developers and, finally, Panchshil-Blackstone signed the deal to buy the building, the executives said.

Panchshil reality group is a well known name in Pune and its entity Blackstone has 49 percent stake in the company, while Panchshil owns 51 percent of the stake. ICICI Venture that had a 50 percent stake in the building has taken its complete share and exited the building, while Goenka and Gupta, both have opted to retain their share in the building. Though ICICI Venture was reportedly looking at 500 crore to 550 crore from the dealICICI Venture and Indian Express have refused to comment on the deal, but Atul Chordia, chairman of Panchshil Reality has confirmed and said the company has acquired a major stake in Express Towers.

The building has 400,000 square feet of leasable area, and about 10 to 15 percent is vacant excluding the penthouse floor that Goenka occupies and another floor where the media group’s press is located.  After buying the stake, the private equity firm also renovated the lobby area and installed high-speed lifts in the building.

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