In a landmark transaction strengthening its presence in Eastern India and South Asia, global investment firm Blackstone has acquired Kolkata’s iconic South City Mall and the unsold inventory of Sri Lanka’s luxury Altair residential project from South City Projects for INR 3250 crore.

According to Millennium Post, the deal marks the largest real estate acquisition in Kolkata and one of the most significant in Eastern India to date. An issued statement read that this acquisition represents Blackstone’s strategic entry into Kolkata’s retail market. With 18 malls across 14 Indian cities, this is the asset manager’s first retail investment in the region. South City Mall, located on Prince Anwar Shah Road, boasts over 150 retail stores, a six-screen INOX multiplex, and top brands including Zara, Armani and Starbucks. The mall generates an estimated INR 1800 crore in annual turnover and draws up to 150,000 visitors during peak periods. Also Read – Centre must release funds pending for MGNREGA for nearly 4 years: Mamata “This transaction is more than a sale; it’s a vote of confidence in Eastern India’s retail ecosystem,” said Sushil Mohta, chairman of Merlin Group and director of South City Projects Ltd. He emphasised the consortium’s long-standing collaboration among six prominent Kolkata business families behind the South City Group. Prakash Bachawat, a key stakeholder in the project, welcomed the Blackstone partnership, saying it will boost the assets’ growth while maintaining their premium positioning.

The deal also includes the unsold luxury units in Altair, a Colombo-based residential skyscraper developed by the South City Group.

The cross-border transaction was facilitated by Anarock Group, which served as the exclusive advisor. Anuj Puri, chairman of Anarock, hailed the deal as a benchmark in cross-border real estate transactions, reflecting investor confidence in high-performing retail and luxury residential sectors across South Asia. With this move, Blackstone reinforces its commitment to long-term value creation in India’s retail and residential sectors, leveraging its global expertise to elevate two premier assets in Kolkata and Colombo. (Millennium Post)

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Police investigations have confirmed that the school student who was reported dead at the Colombo Lotus Tower yesterday had died by suicide and the death was linked to the previous deaths of two school students at a luxury apartment in Slave Island.

The Police said the deceased, a 16-year-old girl from Colpetty, had jumped off the 29th floor of the Tower and was found on the third floor of the building.

Investigations have found that the girl, a grade 11 student of a prominent international school in Colombo, had visited the Colombo Lotus Tower after school. 

The Police said it has also been found that the deceased was a close friend of the two 15-year-old international school students who had died after jumping off a luxury apartment in Slave Island in July this year.

Providing a statement at the Police Station, the deceased’s father had informed that the girl had suffered mentally following the death of her friends.  

The Maradana Police is conducting investigations into the death. (Newswire)

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The Police suspect an accidental fall may have resulted in the deaths of two 15-year-olds at a luxury apartment complex in Slave Island recently.

Investigations have found that the girl has an interest in taking pictures from high places, with the Police having found several such photos in her mobile phone. 

Accordingly, the police suspect that the boy and girl may have fallen from the 67th floor of the apartment complex while attempting to take such photographs.

Meanwhile, Police Spokesman DIG Nihal Thalduwa said preliminary investigations have not confirmed the use of narcotics by the two students.

He further said that CCTV footage also showed no conflict between the duo at the time of the incident. 

DIG Thalduwa added that it is yet to be ascertained if the incident was an accidental fall or suicide attempt. 

An open verdict has been issued in the deaths of the two 15-year-olds and their bodies have been handed over to their families following the completion of the post-mortem examinations yesterday. 

The students from an international school in Colombo were reported dead after having fallen off the 67th floor of a luxury apartment complex in Slave Island. 

Their bodies were recovered from the third floor of the complex where airconditioners were placed. (Newswire) 

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Sri Lanka Police have commenced investigations into CCTV footage on the deaths of two teenagers at a luxury apartment complex in Slave Island reported yesterday.

A boy and girl aged 15 years were reported to have died after falling off the 67th floor of the apartment complex last evening. The Police suspect the two teenagers may have died by suicide. 

Preliminary investigations have found that the two were Grade 10 students of an international school in Colombo and were from the Wellawatte and Kelaniya areas.

The two school students are found to have gone to the Gym on the 5th floor of the apartment complex after school, where they had changed their clothes and left their belongings.

Police investigations reveal that they had reached the 67th floor of the building via the staircase outside the Gym. 

The Police suspect that the duo may have died by suicide and that their bodies had been recovered on the 03rd floor of the 70-storey apartment complex. (Newswire)

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