ASK Property Investment Advisors (ASK PIA), the private equity arm of ASK Group, has invested Rs 147 crore ($24.4 million) in ATS Group’s residential development in Dwarka Expressway. It is the fifth investment from its second fund and a repeat investment for the realtor.
Sunil Rohokale, chief executive and managing director of ASK Group, said, “This is our second investment in the NCR region and second with ATS. We have received most of the approvals and are expecting the remaining approvals in 45-60 days.”
Getamber Anand, chairman and managing director of ATS group, said, “This 11.5 acre land parcel is strategically located close to the expressway which is in close proximity to Delhi.”
The fund is expecting the project to clock revenues of Rs 900-1,000 crore. This is a pure-play equity investment and the fund is looking at returns of over 30 per cent. Residential projects in the area is selling at Rs 6,000-6,500 per sq ft. The project will have 400-500 apartments in 2-3-4 BHK size and will be developed in three-four years.
It has also exited the first investment that it had made from the first fund in ATS Group and has clocked returns of 2.45 multiples and project level internal rate of returns of close to 55 per cent, said Rohokale. The fund had invested Rs 50 crore in ATS’ One Hamlet project in 2010.
ASK’s real estate fund manages more than Rs 1,300 crore. This investment is a part of the Rs 1,000 crore raised through the ASK Real Estate Special Opportunities Fund in 2012. The fund has already made four investments—two in Mumbai with Rajesh Builders and Godrej Properties and two in Bangalore with Mantri Developers and Shriram Properties.
This is the largest single investment that the fund has undertaken with any developer. With this investment, it has deployed close to Rs 550 crore from its fund and plans to invest Rs 300-400 crore more by the end of this financial year; it was earlier looking to exhaust its entire fund by the end of this financial year. The fund is looking at investments in Chennai, Bangalore and Pune. It prefers repeat transactions with its developer partners.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)