Now, realty bug bites RCom

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Mumbai: Announcing its foray into the real estate sector, the Anil Ambani led Reliance Communication (RCom) on Sunday said that the company has decided to demerge the real estate held by it into a separate company known as Reliance Properties.
The move is expected to unlock Rs 12,000 crore value to its shareholders. Reliance Properties Ltd will be a separate listed company and all the existing shareholders of RCom would receive fully tradeable shares of the realty firm in proportion to the shares held by them in the parent company. 
Citing independent valuers, RCom said that the preliminary and indicative monetisable value of the company’s real estate development is estimated at over Rs 12,000 crore, which is equal to Rs 60 per Rcom shares.
“Currently the investor sentiment is low and the companies are finding it difficult to raise fresh funds. The move by RCom is a corporate strategy, which could reinstate the confidence of investors,” observed Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of equity, SMC Global Securities.
On Friday, the shares of RCom closed at Rs 135.60 on the BSE. Since the company’s share prices have surged over 115 per cent during the past three months, market experts are not expecting a major rally in the stock.
“The proposed separation of real estate into a separate unit is part of RCom’s strategic plan to divest non assets and focus on its core wireless and enterprise business,” RCom said adding that the company would work with leading global partners to develop the real estate and unlock value for the benefit of its approximately 2 million shareholders.
The properties proposed to be developed by Reliance Properties include prime land at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, Navi Mumbai measuring nearly 135 acres with saleable area of over 15 million square feet and prime property near Connaught Place measuring nearly four acres.
“We will have to wait and see how soon they are going to implement this proposal. The process of getting approval and roping in foreign partners would take at least six months from now,” said S. P.Tulsian, independent financial analyst.