International Finance Corporation, the investment arm of World Bank, has agreed to invest $41 million (Rs 266.6 crore) in projects of Delhi-based developer Ashiana Housing.
IFC will put in around $23 million across special purpose vehicles (SPVs) which are developing affordable, mid-income and senior living housing. The remaining $18 million will be in the form debt for general corporate purpose, it said in a statement.
Ashiana Housing focuses on affordable, mid-income and senior citizen housing across cities such as Delhi-NCR, Jaipur, Gujarat and Jamshedpur, among others. It clocked revenue of Rs 323 crore for financial year 2016-17 against Rs 458 crore in the previous year. Its profit fell to Rs 72.77 crore from Rs 110 crore.
According to the company’s latest investor presentation, area booked fell to 1.05 lakh sq ft in the second quarter of FY2017-18 from 2.41 lakh sq ft in the year-ago period.
The investment comes soon after private equity firm Creador, which had backed the company back in 2015 with an investment of Rs 100 crore, part exited, clocking a loss. It had picked around 5% stake in Ashiana for Rs 100 crore and sold around 2%.
Meanwhile, IFC’s new investment in the real estate space comes soon after IFC said it plans to invest about $50 million (Rs 321 crore) to help Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd set up three industrial clusters.
Prior to this, IFC has backed a bunch of developers and firms for promoting affordable housing in India. In April last year, it said it will invest up to $38 million in three housing finance companies in India, as the World Bank’s private-sector lending arm seeks to expand its presence in a segment that offers loans for low-cost houses.
The investment in Aspire Home Finance Corporation, Micro Housing Finance Corporation and Aptus Value Housing Finance India Ltd will be through non-convertible debentures.
In 2015, it had also set up a platform with alternative investment firm The Xander Group for commercial properties.
