LN Mittal, Fallaron buy into Indiabulls power unit

MUMBAI, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and hedge fund Farallon Capital Management have agreed to buy a total of 37.5 percent for about $400 million in a power unit of Indiabulls Real Estate (INRL.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the Indian firm said on Friday.

Billionaire Mittal, who already owns 1.16 percent of Indiabulls Real, will buy 14.1 percent through LNM India Ventures Ltd, while a unit of Farallon would hold 23.4 percent in Sophia Power Company, Indiabulls said.

It also said it was planning to merge Sophia Power with Indiabulls Power Services Ltd, a 100 percent subsidiary.

Subsequently, Farallon Capital will hold 17.9 percent in the merged entity and Mittal will own 10.7 percent, it said.

The company gave no further details, but the Economic Times said in an unsourced report the transaction valued Indiabulls Power Services at 55.25 billion rupees ($1.4 billion).

The newspaper paper said Indiabulls Power planned to build power projects with a total capacity of 11,400 megawatts in several Indian states. ($1 = 39.6 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Hiral Vora; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)