Blackstone may invest $1.3 billion in Hotel Leela -paper

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's Hotel Leelaventure Ltd (HTLE.BO) has finalized a private equity investment of 50 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) to fund expansion and the investor may be Blackstone (BX.N), an Indian newspaper said on Monday.

The Times of India newspaper said Leela Chairman C.P. Krishnan Nair confirmed the investment but declined to name the private equity firm or the size of the stake it had bought.

The paper cited unnamed industry sources as saying the investor was likely to be Blackstone, which it said had been in talks with Leela.

Leela declined to comment on the report in a statement to the stock exchange on Monday.

Blackstone officials could not be reached for comment.

Leela shares, which rose nearly 15 percent on the news, were 9.8 percent up on the day at 50.50 rupees in a week Mumbai market.

"We have got close to 5,000 crore rupees (50 billion rupees) worth of funding, which will be spent on our ongoing projects and for expansion purposes," Nair told the newspaper.

The company also planned to launch a second chain of 5-star luxury hotels which would come up in religious destinations, Nair told the paper.

Earlier this year, Blackstone bought a majority stake in apparel firm Gokaldas Exports Ltd (GOKL.BO) and agreed to invest $150 million in Nagarjuna Construction Co Ltd (NGCN.BO).

($1=39.37 Indian rupees)