MUMBAI/NEW DELHI • Wealth fund GIC is in talks to buy a 40 per cent stake in a property rental firm owned by India's biggest listed real estate developer DLF Ltd, the developer said on Wednesday.

It had announced in October 2015 that three shareholders in DLF Cyber City Developers would look to sell their combined 40 per cent stake to reduce conflicts of interest.

The three were among the founders of DLF Ltd.

As of end-December last year, DLF Cyber City Developers had nearly 30 million sq ft of leased space, including information technology parks and malls in the suburbs of New Delhi, according to a company presentation.

It expects its revenue for the year to March to be about 27 billion rupees (S$570 million).

Neither DLF nor the stake sellers have said how much the sale would fetch, but local media reports have pegged it at as much as 140 billion rupees, Reuters said.

The sellers would reinvest a substantial part of the funds from the stake sale into DLF, the company has said, which will help it reduce its heavy debt load.

In a stock exchange filing late on Wednesday, DLF said its audit committee approved entering into the next phase of talks with an affiliate of GIC, which it did not name, to "negotiate definitive transaction documents and execution of an exclusivity agreement".

GIC, with more than US$100 billion (S$141 billion) in assets under management in over 40 countries, has a broad-based portfolio spanning six core asset classes and various active skill-based categories. It has diversified its India portfolio, investing in ventures ranging from taxi apps to commercial banking.

It also has a stake in Kolkata-based microlender Bandhan Financial Services, and Bangalore-based Ola taxi service.