, the real estate private equity arm of Mumbai-based financial services company ASK Group, has invested close to Rs 100 crore from its second domestic fund, ASK Real Estate Special Opportunities Fund II, in a Mumbai-based residential project, sources close to the development have revealed.
However, an ASK official declined to comment on the details of the investment.
ASK PIA has targeted to raise Rs 1,000 crore for the second realty fund, of which it has already raised close to Rs 700 crore and it is expected to close the fund soon. The fund plans to stay invested for a period of 3-4 years and its average investment would be in the range of Rs 75-125 crore per project.
The second fund is a development fund, focused towards residential property development in key cities like Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi.
The fund will invest only in mid-size development projects spanning 5-15 acres in city central or suburbs. It is also targeting projects with a price tag of Rs 4,000-6,000 per sq. ft. in all cities except Mumbai, where the ticket size would be higher, at around Rs 8,000-12,000 per sq. ft.
ASK PIA today announced an investment in a project, developed by Pune-based Paranjape Schemes (Construction) Ltd. According to ASK, the project is worth Rs 150 crore and located in central Pune’s Model Colony. ASK PIA’s investment will be to the tune of Rs 40 Crore for acquiring a little over 51 per cent stake in the project.
Amit Bhagat, chief executive and managing director of ASK Property Investment Advisors, said, “With this investment, we have fully committed our first fund and it is a complete equity deal. It will be a high-end residential project with 31 apartments. We are expecting equity returns of more than 25 per cent from the project.â€
Paranjape Schemes has entity level investment from HDFC Real Estate Fund and one of its realty projects is backed by billionaire Ajay Piramal’s IndiaReit fund.
ASK’s real estate fund business manages domestic real estate funds of more than Rs 1,000 crore. This investment is part of Rs 340 crore raised through ASK Real Estate Special Opportunities Portfolio 1 in 2009. The Special Opportunities Portfolio 1 has already made six investments in the past and this will be the third investment with focus on Pune. Till date, the portfolio has invested in Delhi-NCR, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai. According to the fund, it has previously invested in a residential project worth Rs 255 crore with Amit Enterprises and in another project with Darode Jog worth Rs 270 crore in the Pune region.
ASK PIA is also planning to raise its first offshore fund with a corpus of $250-300 million for which it will begin its road shows soon.