Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) has sold Rs 1,375 crore ($194 million) of wholesale loan to the global alternative investment management fund Oaktree. The transaction is structured under the securitization

guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India, the company said in a

statement Tuesday.

"We have consummated the transaction and it will reduce our project finance book by about 8 percent. We will continue to focus on growing our retail franchise," chairman and managing director Kapil Wadhawan said.

The transaction involves securitization of wholesale real estate project finance loans with security over a near-complete residential project in Mumbai.

"This transaction is representative of how we methodically apply our multi-asset class, structuring, underwriting, investing and restructuring expertise to partner with Asian financial institutions to help them meet their objectives," Oaktree said.

The transaction represents one of the largest investments in the country's residential real estate by an institutional investor.

Oaktree specialises in alternative investments and has $124 billion assets under management.

DHFL shares traded 6.71% down at Rs 172.45 per share on the BSE at 2.44pm, while the Sensex was trading 234.9 points lower at 35,422.87.