Real estate private equity firm Red Fort Capital is picking a 26% stake in a joint venture with Delhi-based Ansal Properties & Infrastructure Ltd for Rs 200 crore. The JV will undertake expansion of a residential project in Gurgaon by developing an additional 108-acre township project adjacent to Ansal’s existing 112-acre Esencia township project in Gurgaon.
Earlier, newsagency PTI had reported quoting unnamed sources that Ansal Properties is looking to raise Rs 350 crore from a bunch of private equity firms for financing some of its projects.
Ansal Properties last June raised Rs 58 crore ($12 million) through a preferential allotment to a string of high net worth individuals besides financial services firm Enam Investment Services. This was part of the plans to dilute 4.5% stake for around Rs 70 crore. Bulk of the investments has been made by three Mumbai-based individuals Roopchand Bhanshali, Akash Bhanshali and Sushma Jain. Enam invested around Rs 8 crore. The fifth investor Sudarshan Securities is likely to pitch in with the balance Rs 12 crore.
For Red Fort this transaction comes as the third deal in last five months. It had picked 24.5% stake in an upcoming office complex project being built by another Delhi-based realty firm Parsvnath Developers Ltd in the capital city’s central business district Connaught Place for Rs 120 crore in October.
In another back to back deal announced last November, Red Fort Capital had formed yet another venture with Parsvnath Developers jointly bidding to develop 5 million sq.ft. residential and mixed-use project on a 38-acre parcel near Connaught Place. This project was secured from India’s Rail Land Development Authority for $360 million.
This were not the first time the two were forming a partnership. The public listed realty company that had also raised Rs 231 crore separately through a qualified institutional placement of shares in October, had also raised a total of Rs 115 crore from Red Fort for 22% stake in Parsvnath La Tropicana, a group housing project of the company in north Delhi.
Indian realty sector has been on a recovery path after seeing the asset price bubble burst in 2008 with credit squeeze and high interest rates. Although the revival was led by rising demand for residential housing projects, commercial realty has seen an uptick for the last six months.
Although slow expansion in the retail sector has held back any sharp momentum to revenue growth, given wide expectations of the upcoming Union Budget opening the retail sector to foreign investment it could come as a positive push for retail realty space.
