Sanjay Dutt, who quit commercial real estate services company Cushman and Wakefield (C&W) recently, has joined Ascendas-Singbridge India (formerly known as Ascendas India) as chief executive officer (CEO) for India operations, the company said in a statement.
The development comes soon after VCCircle first reported that Dutt is on his way out from C&W and is exploring opportunities with companies such as Piramal Fund Management, Ascendas and Colliers. As again reported by VCCircle, Cushman has roped in Anshul Jain, the former India head of real estate services company DTZ, as the new managing director for India.
The statement said that Dutt's appointment will be in effect from 1 August, 2016 and he will succeed Lee Fu Nyap who is relocating to Ascendas -Singbridge's headquarters in Singapore to take up a new role as executive vice president, real estate investments and funds.
In his new role, Dutt will lead the group’s India operations through its next phase of growth and development, the statement added. He will oversee operations, business development, strategic planning and contribute to expand and enhance the group’s portfolio of assets in India.
At C&W, his role included providing end-to-end real estate solutions across state governments, state-owned entities, occupiers, developers and investors. He was also engaged in research, valuation, consulting and transaction services among other responsibilities.
He has over 22 years of experience in real estate business in India. Prior to joining C&W in 2012, he was CEO of real estate services company JLL India. He has also worked for over five years with another services company in real estate CBRE.
Ascendas-Singbridge has been present in India for over two decades now under its subsidiary Ascendas India. The group currently manages close to 10 million sq ft of assets in India, valued at S$1.9 billion, across Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Gurgaon with seven IT parks catering to over 400 clients.
The portfolio of Ascendas India (now Ascendas-Singbridge India) includes International Tech Park and CyberVale in Chennai; International Tech Park in Bangalore; CyberPearl, The V and aVance in Hyderabad and International Tech Park in Pune.
The Singapore-headquartered group, which is a 51:49 joint venture between Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and JTC Corporations, has projects in 29 cities across 10 countries including Australia, China, India and Singapore.
The real estate ecosystem has seen quite a few movements lately as the sector jumps back on the radar of global investors. Nitin Goel, who worked as the managing partner at home grown PE firm Milestone Capital for over three years, has moved to Edelweiss to take care of fundraising. Sanjay Grewal quit IFDC to take up the role of CEO of non-banking financial company (NBFC) Altico Capital. On Wednesday, Pune-based developer promoted Gopal Sara as CEO – Mumbai and group president almost six months after Sujay Kalele quit as the head of the company.
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