Income tax clearance is yet to be obtained and hence conveyancing remains to be executed in favour of ICICI, sources said. The deal does not involve any cash transaction and ICICI has benefited in the form of reduction in its overdues from the Lohia group by about Rs 15 crore, the value assigned to the space being acquired by ICICI.

The deal fructified after months of intense negotiations with ICICI which was almost edged out by HDFC Bank at one stage. The property, valued by HDFC at over Rs 28 crore, was originally intended to be acquired as a whole by ICICI but finally it ended up acquiring approximately half the space available.

Currently, the zonal office of ICICI is located on Gorky Terrace and the acquisition of space is not meant fortransfer of the existing office location but a means of partial settlement of overdues to the institution, sources clari1fied.

Woolworth (India) Ltd managing director AP Lohia told The Financial Express that the Uniworth House had a total space of 45,000 square feet and the space sold to ICICI was about 15,000 square feet while the balance was with the Uniworth group and the Rungtas.

He clarified that all the owners would occupy space vertically across the building without obstructing common facilities as the building has been designed in such a fashion.

The Uniworth group's meteoric rise to fame in the early nineties was largely the result of the success of its 100 per cent export-oriented worsted yarn unit at Raipur in Madhya Pradesh. This led to a spate of new plants and companies like Uniworth International and Fabworth (India) to create further value addition.

As the group grew in size, the balance sheet of Woolworth Ltd (the flagship) became highly geared. As on March 31, 1998, thecompany's secured borrowings amounted to Rs 344 crore against a net worth of Rs 205 crore. Out of the secured loans, rupee loans accounted for Rs 20 crore.

The group's liquidity crunch is also evident from its actions in the recent past to roll over the redemption of the 10 per cent series of convertible cumulative redeemable preference shares issued by Uniworth and Fabworth.At an extraordinary general meeting of preference shareholders of Fabworth held on Wednesday, the resolution for extending the date of redemption of part B of Rs 30 each of preference shares issued in 1994 from April 26, 1999, to April 26, 2004, was passed.

Speaking on the occasion, the chairman of the meeting, Samir Ghosh, said the company's cash flows were "trailing" the profit projections made earlier because of global recession, particularly in the textile industry. He pointed out that some of the strategic initiatives taken by the company for effecting a turnaround of Fabworth included marketing of grey fabrics abroad; debondingof the production units meant for 100 per cent exports; anufacture of "bulk running" fabrics and exploring new markets in the USA.