Godrej Properties said it has created a separate real estate fund management business in India and Singapore and the capital has been raised through this
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| In 2012, Godrej Properties and an APG-led investor consortium struck a partnership, one of the first of its kind, to jointly invest Rs.770 crore in residential projects. |
Bengaluru: Godrej Properties Ltd on Monday said it has raised $275 million for Godrej Residential Investment Program II (GRIP-II) with Dutch pension fund asset manager APG Asset Management NV as the lead investor.
The Mumbai-based developer said it has created a separate real estate fund management business in India and Singapore—Godrej Fund Management (GFM)—and the capital has been raised through this. The new pool of capital will invest in residential projects.
Karan Bolaria has been appointed to head GFM and will be responsible for managing both series of the residential investment programmes as well as any future strategies that GFM will undertake.
In 2012, Godrej Properties and an APG-led investor consortium struck a partnership, one of the first of its kind, to jointly invest Rs.770 crore in residential projects. Last year in July, Godrej Properties and APG, through their joint investment and development venture, bought 18 acres of land from realty firm Puravankara Projects Ltd, off Kanakpura Road in Bengaluru, with which the corpus was fully deployed.
GRIP-II is a follow-on residential development platform, where GFM will advise on investments with Godrej Properties in India. The latter will hold a 20% stake in the second platform. “The new GRIP II platform in partnership with APG will help us attract high quality long-term equity investors to partner with us in our developments across India. This fits well with our strategy of deepening our presence across the country’s leading real estate markets while maintaining a capital-light development strategy,” said Pirojsha Godrej, managing director and chief executive, Godrej Properties.
“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. We look forward to deepening the collaboration between our groups and supporting Godrej Fund Management,” said Sachin Doshi, managing director and head of private real estate investments, Asia Pacific, at APG.
Godrej Properties Ltd rose as much as 3% to Rs.290.70, while India’s benchmark Sensex index rose 0.44% to 25,063.43 points.
