Mumbai, July 17: Foreign lender Standard Chartered has put its six-storeyed building in sub-urban Goregaon on the block as part of its move to consolidate operations, sources said.
The move is part of a staff redistribution and consolidation process of the bank, the sources said, declining to give an estimate of how much the bank is expecting from the sale of the 2.46 lakh sq ft property, which is built on a plot of around 7,086.5 sq meters.
StanChart had bought the property in 2007 for Rs 325 crore and currently it houses 1,500-1,700 employees in the consumer banking and operations department, who will be relocated to its two offices in south Mumbai's Fort area and one more in the Bandra Kurla Complex business district, they said.
The sources, however, added that this is merely a part of the consolidation of operations efforts and will not lead to any job losses at the bank, which is listed on the domestic bourses through an IDR (Indian Depository Receipt).
When contacted, a bank spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
According to the source, a real estate brokerage has been hired by the bank to help in the sale process and some advertisements have also been issued.
The bank had reportedly acquired the six-floor facility from developer K Raheja Universal in 2007 for Rs 325 crore. It had followed it up with the purchase of around 1.47 lakh square feet space in BKC for a consideration of Rs 750 crore in the next year, according to reports.
In FY'13, StanChart regained its position as the most profitable foreign bank in the country by reporting a 71 per cent spike in net profit at Rs 2,960 crore, beating HSBC and Citi. The British bank had slipped behind rivals HSBC India and Citi India in FY12.
