Milestone Capital exits investment in Pune commercial property for $24M

Milestone Capital exits investment in Pune commercial property for $24M

By Swet Sarika

  • 11 Apr 2014

Private equity firm Milestone Capital Advisors has exited its investment in a 2.5 lakh sq ft commercial property in Pune for about Rs 145 crore ($24 million). The firm held an undisclosed stake in the project which was sold to a high-net-worth individual (HNI), said a report in The Economic Times citing a top company executive.

The company did not disclose the name of the buyer.

The office building located at Kalyani Nagar in the city, was one of Milestone's initial investments through its rental yield fund IL&FS Milestone Fund I. The investment was made way back in 2008 and the operational property currently houses offices of names like Reliance Communications, Standard Chartered and Vodafone.

"Including quarterly rental yields and capital appreciation, our investment in the property has provided 1.83 times returns," said Rubi Arya, director and vice chairman of Milestone Capital Advisors, told the newspaper.

This marks the first exit for Milestone Capital in the new year and the second over the past 12 months. It had previously sold its stake in Bangalore-based developer Jain Heights & Structures Pvt Ltd in a buyback transaction.

Early last year it also sold its stake in Ecofirst, a cleantech related design firm.

The PE firm had marked two exits in 2011, including a commercial property in Mumbai. It had sold its stake in Raheja Titanium, through a buyback by the project developer K Raheja Universal group. It had also part exited from a township project in Chennai.

Some other deals in the Pune realty market, include Kolte-Patil Developers along with ASK Real Estate Special Opportunities Fund, a fund managed by ASK Property Investment Advisors Pvt Ltd, acquiring a 30-acre land parcel at Kondhwa in Pune for Rs 160 crore ($26.67 million). Early this year, Kolte-Patil also acquired a 34-acre land parcel at Wakad in Pune for Rs 350 crore ($55.87 million) in the single-largest land transaction in the city.

In another deal, IL&FS Investment Managers Ltd (IIML) or IL&FS PE is exiting from Market City Retail Mall in Pune, by selling its stake to project development partner Phoenix Mills for €8.43 million (Rs 71.65 crore or $11.5 million).

Also, LIC Housing Finance Ltd has invested in some mid-income housing project in Pune from its maiden realty fund.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)