Coming quick on the heels of the sale of Express Tower building in Mumbai's Nariman Point, another of Mumbai's iconic building Cadbury House in Peddar Road has reportedly been sold for Rs 350 crore to a diamond merchant Dilip Lakhi.
The building houses the current headquarter of Cadbury India which is part of Mondelez International group of companies.
Cushman and Wakefield were appointed as the real estate consultant on the deal.
According to a media report, the land parcel is of 1.1. acre with a saleable area of 62,000 square feet. The deal was priced at Rs 57,000 per square feet, the report added.
When contacted for a comment on the news report of the building sale, the Cadbury Spokesperson said in a written statement: “On the sale of Cadbury house, as it is ongoing, you will appreciate that we will be unable to comment any further."
Cushman and Wakefield too declined to comment on the deal though both Cadburys and Cushman and Wakefield did not deny the news report.
Ravi Ahuja, Executive Director, Cushman and Wakefield said: "We are not in a position to comment on the deal at the moment as the deal is still ongoing."
When contacted earlier in June to elaborate on the company's relocation plan, the Cadbury spokesperson had said given the company's growth in the last few years there had been an exponential increase in the number of new employees to 500 from 300 at the end of 2010 leading the company to look for a new location.
"To alleviate some of the congestion at Cadbury House the company took additional office space in Lower Parel late last year and had to split people into two offices. Today, both these offices are at full capacity. We are also unable to expand Cadbury House because of FSI constraints. Therefore, with the rapid expansion of the organisation, there is a need to plan long term for our people, culture, facilities and infrastructure."
"We will be looking for locations more northwards of the city - given the trend of workspaces in Mumbai and as been done by several companies in the recent past. We hope to finalise a location that is convenient and accessible for a majority of our employees and in the fullness of time plan to consolidate our growing workforce which is currently spread across various offices in Mumbai in one location," the spokesperson had added.
Cadbury India currently has 3 offices in Mumbai – Mahalaxmi, Lower Parel and Powai. In Thane, it has a factory and a new upcoming R&D centre.