Blitz Bureau
Aditya Birla Real Estate Limited (ABREL), the realty arm of the Aditya Birla group, said on March 31 that it had got board approval for selling its pulp and paper businesses to ITC for Rs 3,498 crore via a slump sale.
According to the business transfer agreement, Century Pulp and Paper (CPP), situated in Lalkuan, Uttarakhand, will be divested and sold to ITC, as a value unlocking exercise for its shareholders. The move will enable ABREL to grow its core real estate business.
“The company has embarked on a transformational growth phase, and this move will further sharpen its focus on real estate to drive sustained value creation,” said R K Dalmia, Managing Director, ABREL.
“Over the years, CPP has become synonymous with strong performance and high sustainability standards. To take it to the next level, the company is pleased to have found in ITC a credible and well-established player,” he added.
ITC, in its statement, said: “The acquisition is in line with the company’s strategy to drive the next phase of growth in its paperboards and specialty papers business by expanding capacity at a new location, given the limited scope for expansion at the existing facilities.”
In the first nine months of the financial year 2025 (9MFY25), the company’s pulp and paper arm clocked revenue of Rs 2,382.50 crore, down 5.34 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y). In FY24, the segment’s revenue stood at Rs 3,375.32 crore, down 5.5 per cent Y-o-Y.
On the other hand, ABREL’s revenue from its real estate business in 9MFY25 stood at Rs 777.71 crore, with an almost a five-fold increase compared to the revenue during the same period last year. The arm’s revenue stood at Rs 832.21 crore in FY24, marking a six-fold Y-o-Y increase.
ABREL develops premium residential housing in key markets, including Mumbai, Bengaluru, the National Capital Region, and Pune. The company is developing land parcels through outright purchases as well as asset-light joint ventures, apart from developing its own land parcels.
Birla Estates, a wholly owned subsidiary of ABREL, recently sold homes worth approximately Rs 3,000 crore through its luxury residential project, Birla Arika, in Gurugram. The company recently launched its first project in Pune with an estimated revenue potential of Rs 2,700 crore.
The company’s ongoing residential projects have a gross development value of Rs 14,980 crore, while its upcoming projects have a value of Rs 48,367 crore.
The lump sum consideration is subject to certain adjustments as per the agreement. The transaction is expected to be consummated in about six months, subject to receipt of statutory approvals, including that of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and fulfilment of the conditions laid down in the BTA.
JM Financial Limited acted as the exclusive financial advisor, and AZB & Partners acted as the legal advisor to ABREL for this transaction.