US hedge fund Capri Capital plans to launch realty PE fund in India

US-based hedge fund Capri Capital Partnersplans to launch its first India-dedicated real estate private equity fund to raise about $400 million, two people familiar with the development said.

Capri Capital, which advises pension funds and institutional investors globally, has $3.7 billion assets under management.

It is looking to raise the fund through its India arm, Capri Global Capital, after the upcoming general elections. The offshore fund will focus on investing in affordable housingprojects across the country, the people quoted earlier said.

Quintin Primo III, chairman & CEO of Chicago-headquartered Capri Capital, refused to share details of the fund raising plan. He, however, said Capri Global Capital is working on the "right" investment strategy in India.

"We want to aggressively expand that platform. We hope to secure various sources of capital in the next 12 months including equity, debt, private equity format and also through joint ventures," he said. Capri Global Capital is a listed non-deposit accepting systemically important non-banking finance company (NBFCs-ND-SI) focused on wholesale, small and micro enterprise lending. Large global institutional investors, with few exceptions such as Blackstone Group, have been keeping away from the Indian real estate sector given the current scenario.

However, according to Primo, Indian real estate is throwing up good opportunities due to tough liquidity situation and Capri is aiming to tap this growth.

Source: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-02-07/news/47126611_1_hedge-fund-equity-fund-offshore-fund

Capri Capital bets on India; plans dedicated realty fund

Large global institutional investors seem to have a developed a renewed interest for Indian realty. The latest in the list is Chicago-headquartered hedge-fund 'Capri Capital Partners' which has big plans for growing in country through its India arm - Capri Global Capital. Considering this, CNBC TV18's Manasvi Ghelani finds out what's attracting global investors to Indian realty at a time when domestic banks are shying away from exposing themselves to the sector.

With domestic investors and banks cautious of lending to the Indian real estate sector given the current economic scenario, foreign investors are coming to the rescue. So after Blackstone, its US based hedge fund Capri, which is now investing big in India through its arm - Capri Global Capital.

The company has recently signed a deal with real estate developer Monarch Universal Group to fund Rs 45 crore for two residential projects in Roadpali and Kalamboli in Mumbai.

Besides, in the last nine months Capri has invested a total of about Rs 200 crore for partnerships with Marvel Group in Pune, CHD Developers in Delhi and Ozone & Unishire Group in Bangalore.

Reports also suggest, Capri is planning to launch its first India-dedicated real estate private equity fund to raise about USD 400 million soon after the elections.

And the management says their strategy is already yielding positive returns.   

“The banks pulled back and that gave us the opportunities to step up so we had significant appointment of capital in the last 12 months. We have experienced very strong credit performance, in terms of delinquencies, they have been very low. We have been able to generate 20% of returns on monies we have let out in the market,” Quintin E Primo III, Chairman, Capri Global Capital says.

On the other hand this is good news for cash-strapped Indian developers as well.

Sanjay Dutt, Executive MD - South Asia, Cushman & Wakefield says: “It is important that you to de-risk your projects and basically have equity partnership and therefore not necessarily invest too much money from your pocket. So that has resulted in a lot of play between developers and PE firms.”

But despite this renewed interest from global investors, analysts say more needs to be done to help developers and all eyes are now on the new government's policies post elections to see if it can get in more FDI for the realty sector as well as push through REITS.

Source: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/cnbc-tv18-comments/capri-capital-betsindia-plans-dedicated-realty-fund_1039653.html?utm_source=ref_article