ASK Property Investment Advisors, the real estate private equity arm of financial services group ASK, has invested Rs 326 crore ($47 million) across projects of QVC Reality Developers, Tridhaatu Realty and TVS Emerald, which is part of the TVS Group.
These projects are located in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and National Capital Region (NCR), a statement by ASK Group said, adding that the investments are in line with the fund’s strategy of focusing on established developers’ residential projects in the top five cities.
“Liquidity crunch of NBFCs/HFCs (non-banking financial companies and housing finance companies) has accelerated the consolidation process, benefitting reputed developers. Right-sized, right-priced project launches focused on the mid-segment have seen growth in absorption,” said Amit Bhagat, managing director and chief operating officer, ASK Property Investment Advisors. He added, “Lack of re-financing for developers has considerably increased the deal flow for private equity.’’
Sunil Rohokale, managing director and chief operating officer, ASK Group, said, “These investments re-affirm ASK Group’s strong belief in demand revival in the residential real estate market, which has undergone structural changes like GST rollout (Goods and Services Tax) and implementation of RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) in the current regulatory regime.”
ASK Property Investment Advisors raised its first domestic fund of Rs 326 crore under tough market conditions in the period from March 2009 to December 2009. It raised a second domestic fund of Rs 1,000 crore in 2011 and a third domestic fund of Rs 1,400 crore in 2016. ASK Group has also raised Rs 500 crore ($82 million) for its maiden offshore fund. The company has also raised structured debt of over Rs 575 crore for some of the most reputed and financially prudent developers which are fully prepaid. It had also announced a final close for its structured equity fund of Rs 898 crore in March 2018.
In 2017, ASK Group had separately announced that ASK Property Investment Advisors and TVS Emerald Haven Realty Ltd, the real estate arm of TVS Motor Company, had partnered each other to set up a Rs 400 crore real estate investment platform focused on mid-income housing and affordable housing.
ASK Group is working on its initial public offering and is expected to get listed soon. It offers services across wealth advisory and multi-family office service as well as portfolio management services – real estate and private equity.
Recently, ASK Group set up an NBFC and hired Maneesh Yadav, former chief executive of Aditya Birla Real Estate Fund, to head it.
In real estate investments, ASK Group backed a bunch of projects of southern real estate developer Shriram Properties and also created a platform with the developer.
ASK Group had also backed a commercial-led development of ATS Group, marking its first investment in the commercial space.