The Venture Intelligence Blog

Venture Intelligence is India's longest serving provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India.

A Business Standard article covering rising Private Equity investments in Real Estate companies quotes Venture Intelligence data: "According to research firm Venture Intelligence, South-based players saw fund infusion of $6.5 billion (Rs 456 billion) from large fund houses, starting 2014 till date. In this calendar year, PE entities infused $1.6 billion in many large realty firms based out of Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai, across 16 deals. In the period from 2014, realtors in the western region (led by Mumbai and Pune) saw the highest amount of PE investment, of $10.3 billion. Those in the National Capital Region (NCR) attracted nearly $5.3 billion. In the south, Hyderabad-based Phoenix Group saw the highest amount of investment - $652 million - from PE players Indiabulls, Altico Capital and Canadian pension fund CPPIB, among others. Bengaluru-headquartered Embassy Group had investment of $638 mn from global PE majors Blackstone, Warburg Pincus and Xander Group, ...

An Economic Times article quotes Venture intelligence data on PE Exits in the Real Estate space: Private equity real estate firms announced 24 exits during entire 2016. Of these, 22 transactions had an announced value of $1.02 billion, up 13% compared to $905 million across 16 transactions announced in 2015. Thirteen of the exits were through buybacks followed by secondary sales involving sale of stake to another PE investor, which accounted for five exits, according to data from Venture Intelligence.    Among secondary transactions, which involves stake sale to another private equity investor, Kotak Realty exited Mumbai-based developer Nirmal Lifestyle in which Altico Capital invested INR 500 crore. Urban infrastructure Venture Capital received full exit from Ozone Group's Urbana Project that was funded by structured debt raised from another financier. Urban Infrastructure had invested INR 200 crore in the Urbana project in 2009. Venture Intelligence is India's long...

An  Economic Times article by Sobia Khan & Kailash Babar uses Venture Intelligence data on to showcase rising PE interest in Commercial Real Estate Projects: In 2015, private equity real estate firms deployed more than $5 billion in Indian real estate companies and projects — the highest since the financial crisis of 2008 — through 90 deals, according to research from Venture Intelligence . Large investors and established developers also created several joint venture platforms in the past year. Of the investment made, commercial projects accounted for 10%, (compared to 6% in 2014). Other Trends: 1. Given most of the private equity funds in India receive funds from sovereign funds and pension fund - completed leased commercial assets are seen as the best bet for these investors. 2. Active setting up of tie-ups/platforms with builders Tata Group's real estate and infrastructure development arm, Tata Realty & Infrastructure, partnered with Standard C...

From Business Today : Retirement homes have always been a popular concept in the West. But they were relatively slow to take off in India where for the longest time they were associated with the abandonment of older people. Not any longer. Better life expectancy and financial independence have spawned a new breed of senior citizens such as the Nairs who are happy to live in retirement homes instead of dealing with the isolation and hassles of independent homes. With attitudes changing, many real estate developers including Ashiana Housing, Paranjpe Schemes, Shriram Properties and Covai Property Centre are pouring big money into retirement home complexes. Several non-real estate companies such as Max India and LIC Housing Finance have also entered the business of homes for seniors. While Max is yet to launch its project, LIC Housing has opened two senior living complexes in Bangalore and Bhubaneswar. Real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle India (JLL India) estimates...

From a recent Business Today Cover Story : There was a rush of foreign direct investment into Indian real estate when the sector was first opened, but that is now drying up. Private equity (PE) players, foreign and domestic, have greatly reduced their exposure - their investments in real estate fell by 36 per cent in 2012 over 2011, as compared to a 19 per cent reduction in such funding in India as a whole. And those still backing realty projects, such as Motilal Oswal PE or IIFL Private Wealth, have started offering loans instead of acquiring equity charging interest of more than 20 per cent and seeking collateral often twice the size of the loan. ...Even a veteran realtor such as the Mumbai-based Oberoi Realty, while venturing into the National Capital Region, has been looking for a local developer or landowner, so it only has to invest in the building of the project. Or take Nitesh Estate, a newcomer in the field, but one which has already done a successful IPO - it...

From Business Today ...lately a new breed of brokers has emerged, who want to break out of this image. "The first question customers ask is: 'Why should I trust you'," says Samarjit Singh, Founder and Managing Director, IndiaHomes. "So we take special pains to ensure we win their trust." Leading the pack are Investors Clinic and Better Option Propmart (BOP), which notched up revenues of Rs 148 crore and Rs 150 crore, respectively in 2011/12. The bulk of their earnings came from residential properties. ...In their wake came others. There is IndiaHomes, the reincarnated face of Agni Property, which began in 2008 as a traditional property agent, but which in early 2010 decided to concentrate on the primary home market - selling only newly built residential properties. It had revenues of Rs 26 crore in 2011/12. There is also AllCheckDeals, with revenues of Rs 17.5 crore last year, whose very name incorporates the credo that it accepts payments only by cheque. It...

Extract from The Economic Times article Group buying is typically a good strategy, be it for travel deals or buying consumer durables, as it can help you get discounts ranging from 5% to 25%. More recently, companies such as Groffer.com and Home Buyers Combine (HBC) have taken the lead in extending this principle to real estate. ...Why do developers offer such attractive deals to group buying firms when they are unwilling to do the same for standalone buyers even as a bait during a slump? It's simple. Group purchasing brings a ready, not to forget substantial, cash flow to the developer and simultaneously generates business without him having to advertise any kind of discount. It's similar to the set-up that developers share with speculators who generally buy in bulk. Such investors are able to get discounts of 30-40% since they come in at a stage when the project has not yet started and typically pay 50% of the property's value upfront and in cash. Group buying compan...

Businessworld has a feature on the generational changes among business families in the Indian Real Estate business. Arun Natarajan is the Founder & CEO of Venture Intelligence, the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A deals in India. View free samples of Venture Intelligence newsletters and reports. Email the author at arun@ventureintelligence.in

From the Press Release Pragnya Fund has formed a joint venture with Habitat Ventures Ltd for developing a contemporary ‘Work-Live-Relax’ residential cum commercial development with all modern amenities at Whitefield, Bangalore. The project is ideally located close to International Tech Park (“ITPB”), on the Whitefield Road (ITPL Road). The project is based on a distinctive concept called “Villaments”, which combine the features of a villa and a high end apartment. This product is targeted at higher income families working out of Whitefield & Outer Ring Road, key technology hubs, who would like to have a villa ambience at the price of a higher end apartment. The project has obtained most of the permissions and the launch is scheduled for early 2011. This will be the first investment by Pragnya Fund in Bangalore. Pragnya Fund has been in the real estate investment business in India and Sri Lanka since 2005-06. The present portfolio of the fund includes an 87 acre integrated township...