INRnews - Indian Real Estate News

Xander Real Estate Partners
Xander Real Estate Partners, a private equity investor, has picked up a 20% stake in a Reliance Industries (RIL) JV with the Maker Group to develop commercial, residential, and retail real estate on a 20-acre site in the Bandra Kurla complex in Mumbai. The 20% stake is valued at over $100million according to market reports.

Old Lane
Private Equity firm Old Lane has raised a $500 million fund that will invest in Indian infrastructure and real estate. Old Lane will partner with leading players in making these investments. For private equity placements in infrastructure, Old Lane will partner with IDFC. For investments in private companies Old Lane will partner with JM Financial.

According to Guru Ramakrishnan, founder and managing director of Old Lane, "India will experience a four-fold increase in infrastructure and real estate spending by 2010. We see very interesting opportunities in IT Parks, commercial, residential hospitality and integrated township projects." Mr. Ramakrishnan sees a shortfall of over 19 million residential units now in urban India and a requirement of an additional 350 million square feet of commercial space by 2013. Old Lane recently announced a $45 million investment in a JV with RR Industries to develop an IT Park, RR Skyline, in the Ambattur area in North Chennai. The 2.2 million square feet IT Park is expected to be ready by end 2007.

Morgan Stanley Real Estate
Morgan Stanley is looking to raise a $8 billion international real estate opportunity fund that would be the largest of its kind. The new fund will be Morgan Stanley Real Estate's sixth and will focus on investments outside the US. It will also be an opportunity fund, focused on riskier investments than traditional real estate funds. Some 25% of the fund's investments will go to emerging markets such as China and India.

Evolvence Capital
Evolvence Capital, an alternative investment group established with US$ 750 million assets under management, is the cornerstone investor in the Evolvence India Fund, a fund of funds focused on private equity, real estate and infrastructure investments in India. The Evolvence India Fund has invested $100m in private equity and infrastructure funds.

"We foresee exceptional growth in India, especially in the manufacturing, services, Infrastructure and real estate sectors we have targeted with this initial investment. We expect to add significant global investments to our India portfolio in the near future," said Jay Jegannathan, Managing Director of the Evolvence India Fund.

The Evolvence India Fund portfolio includes investments into funds by UTI Ventures, New York Life Investment Management, IDFC Private Equity, IL&FS Investment Managers, India Value Fund Advisors and Baring India Private Equity. The additional investments include Emaar-MGF Land (P) Limited, Centurion Bank of Punjab, Consolidated Construction Consortium Limited and Eastern Silk Industries Limited. The fund plans to invest an additional US$150 Million as growth capital into various funds and companies in India focused on manufacturing, services, infrastructure and real estate.
 

According to a Grant and Thornton report, private equity fund in flows from January to October this year have touched $6 billion, a 250% increase from last year and more than 200 private equity deals have been struck this year. "Major interest have been in IT and ITeS this year, but what we are now looking at is the infrastructure and real estate sectors which are poised for significant growth especially once the regulations ease up and more foreign investments comes into the sector. We are going to see a lot of growth in this sector," says Dhanraj Bhagat, director, corporate advisory services, Grant Thornton.