Deutsche Bank has picked up close to 40% stake in Ramprastha Promoters and Developers, a group company owned by Delhi-based Ramprastha Group for $80 million. Ramprastha Promoters and Developers has been primarily engaged in developing housing projects in the national capital region(NCR).
Confirming the deal, Ramprastha group director Arvind Walia told ET, “We signed the agreement with Deutsche Bank recently.” Mr Walia didn’t specify the stake Deutsche Bank has bought, but he said it was less than 40%. Ernst & Young advised Ramprastha on the deal.
In the largest private equity deal in real estate sector, Deutsche Bank had picked up around 25% stake in a special purpose vehicle (SPV) owned by Mumbai-based developer Lodha Group for Rs 1,700 crore, last year. Currently, Ramprastha Promoters and Developers is developing a 200 acre township in Gurgaon. The land for the project has already been acquired.
The real estate group promoted by Balwant Singh and family has taken up several housing projects in NCR. The developer has completed two township projects – 110 acre Ramprastha Colony and 80 acre Rampuri – in Ghaziabad and is implementing another 100 acre township in the same area.
Last year, the group had received foreign funding from South Asian Real Estate (SARE), a private equity fund based out of the Isle of Man. The real estate developer formed a 50:50 joint venture with the PE fund to implement a 150 acre township. The project will develop 11 million sq.ft of residential housing, commercial and IT parks.
The Ramprastha Group has also entered into an equal joint venture with Gurgaon-based engineering company, Punj Lloyd. The JV company is developing over 29.5 acre township in Vaishali, Ghaziabad.
The group so far has been focused on the Ghaziabad region, but it is fast spreading its operations to Gurgaon. Despite global recessionary trends, the Indian real estate sector seems to be attracting investments from private equity. Currently, several big players like DLF, Unitech and Omaxe are also looking at raising money through PE route.
Source: Economic Times