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A tightening of global liquidity markets has made private equity fund raising for the real estate and infrastructure sectors difficult with many funds expected to extend their closures or reduce the target corpus. According to people in the industry, the churn in the global equity markets has made investors wary of even private equity funds, although the two markets are in different categories with different quantum of risks. […] The Indian outsourcing sector is amongst the worst hit by the rising rupee with most of the companies showing a slump in growth and profitability. Valuations too have fallen. However, this situation not only reflects the ‘deteriorated revenue growth expectation’ of investors, but also makes the domestic BPO (business process outsourcing) space ripe for heightened M&A (merger and acquisition) activity. […] Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank are set to make a combined investment of $500 million in an SPV floated by India’s second-most valued real estate developer Unitech, according to a person close to the development. The two PE players are learnt to be in advanced talks with Unitech to pick up a minority stake in the SPV formed to execute two commercial projects in Mumbai. The two projects, located in Santa Cruz, are likely to have a combined developable office space of 2 million sq ft. The deal is likely to be closed in the next three weeks, according to a source. Unitech declined comment on the issue. […] Red Fort Capital, the investment manager of Cayman Islands-based Red Fort India Real Estate Fund I, is planning to launch a second offshore fund next month with a corpus of Rs 3,200 crore ($800 million) to invest in the Indian real estate. The fund will be named Red Fort India Real Estate Fund II and is expected to close in June this year. Red Fort is targeting individual investors, corporate entities, pension funds, insurance companies, foundations, endowments and governments in Europe, the US and other countries, according to Subhash Bedi, partner, Red Fort Capital. The fund will invest in FDI-compliant projects in the residential, commercial, retail and hospitality sectors and has an investment threshold of Rs 40 crore ($10 million). ‘’We are expecting returns of 30 per cent,’’ Bedi said. […] |