Godrej Properties raises $275 m for new fund

Teams up with Dutch pension manager APG for its GRIP II capital pool

Mumbai, March 21:  

Real estate developer Godrej Properties has raised Rs. 1,900 crore (about $275 million) with Dutch pension fund asset manager APG Asset Management NV as lead investor for its Godrej Residential Investment Programme II (GRIP II).

The Mumbai-based developer, an arm of the Godrej group, has created a dedicated real estate fund management business in India and Singapore –– Godrej Fund Management (GFM) — which will advise investors in the new fund.

Godrej Properties will hold a 20 per cent stake in GRIP II, according to a press release.

GRIP II will help attract long-term equity investors for real estate development across the country, Pirojsha Godrej, Managing Director & CEO, Godrej Properties, was quoted as saying. The new pool of capital will be invested in residential projects. GRIP II is a follow-on to the $200-million residential development platform that GPL had set up with an APG-led investor consortium in 2012.

Karan Bolaria has been appointed GFM’s head and will be responsible for both residential investment programmes as well as other strategic moves that the subsidiary might make.

APG and GPL pioneered the joint venture approach in the Indian private real estate market in 2012 with GRIP I, a structure that has since been followed by other foreign institutional investors and Indian developers.  

Sachin Doshi, Managing Director and Head of Private Real Estate Investments, Asia Pacific at APG, said, “Our strategy of partnering with only the best local operators has allowed us to succeed in a complex market like residential development in India. In spite of a general slowdown in the asset class in the country over the last three years, our partnership projects have sold well, which is a testament to our partner’s execution capability and brand strength.”

Sun Capital