Former Deloitte India executive Vishal Singh has joined real estate-focused investment company Certus Capital as a partner, according to a Linkedin post shared by Certus founder Ashish Khandelia on Wednesday.
Singh comes with over two decades years of experience with a focus on investment banking and advisory services.
According to Singh's LinkedIn profile, he has handled profiles like real estate investment banking, corporate finance in equity, quasi-equity, structured finance, debt, merger and acquisitions and special situations, across his 12-year stint at Deloitte as director and eventually as partner.
Prior to Deloitte, Singh as worked with companies like Brescon & Allied Partner, Edelweiss, ICICI Bank and Jones Lang LaSalle.
“Vishal has been an industry colleague for many years and we closed several deals advised by him, during my KKR days. He brings along a relationship network with developers and institutional investors alike and over 20 years of real estate advisory experience across asset classes and capital structures,” Khandelia said in the post.
“Our 10+ member team is working on transactions ranging from Rs 25-2,500 crore across our twin platforms,” he added.
Singh holds MBA from IIM-Calcutta, Master’s degree in Urban Planning from CEPT Ahmedabad and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture.
In an August interview with Mint, Khandelia said Certus is planning to launch its first category-II alternative investment fund (AIF) early next year. The real estate fund will be credit-focused and is looking at an initial corpus of Rs 500 crore.
Earnnest.me, a digital neo financing platform of Certus Capital has invested Rs 40 crore in Pune-based developer Pharande Spaces’ mid-market residential project, which is in advanced stages of construction. The 4 lakh sq ft project is located in the city’s Pimpri-Chinchwad area.
Khandelia set up Certus Capital in 2018 after leaving KKR, where he was co-head of Indian real estate investments. Over the last two years, Certus Capital, which holds an NBFC licence and does advisory deals, has managed to close transactions worth Rs 2,400 crore (over $300 million).
In January 2019, Certus structured a potential deal that involved global alternative investment management firm Oaktree Capital buying loans from debt-laden mortgage lender Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL).
