3i picks up stake in Hyderabad firm for $101m

3i India Infrastructure Fund, part of the London-based private equity and venture capital company 3i Group Plc, has invested $101 million (Rs 398 crore) in Hyderabad-based infrastructure company Soma Enterprise.

Though the companies have not disclosed the exact stake the fund picked up, Avinash Bhosale, joint managing director, Soma Enterprise said, “3i has got minority stake; the stake figure is in mid-teens (between 13% and 17%).”

This figure values the company at over Rs 3,400 crore.

Soma will use the money for expansion. “We will invest the money to further build capacities to undertake bigger projects. This includes buying infrastructure machineries,” Bhosale.

Hyderabad-based Rajendra Prasad Maganti and his family owns majority stake in the infrastructure firm. Pune-based flamboyant real estate developer and hotelier Avinash Bhosale is the other promoter.

Soma, with revenues of Rs 1,100 crore, has an order book of Rs 6,400 crore. The company is also planning a public issue next year. “Though we have not yet started the process, we hope to come with an initial public offering by next year,” Bhosale said.

The company has divided its business in six verticals. Theses include real estate, urban infrastructure, irrigation, transportation, tunnel and hydro power. Along with IL&FS, Soma is bidding for phase II of the Mumbai metro rail project.

3i India Infrastructure fund targets to invest about $1bn in the country. Soma Enterprise is its second investment in the country. In October this year, it had invested $227 million for a minority stake in Adani Power, a subsidiary of Adani Group.

Wizard Home Loans comes to Hyderabad

Hyderabad: By middle of 2008, Wizard Home Loan, a joint venture of GE Money and the Australia based home loan company is planning to add six new cities to its existing business network. Wizard home loan provides Loan against property, home loan refinance and debt consolidation services in addition to its most popular product - the home loan. Launching the company's operation in Hyderabad, Egisto Franceschi, CEO Wizard Home Loans said, “We want to become the most-preferred home loan provider in India with highly competitive pricing.”

According to a study commissioned by the company to understand the dynamics of home loan market in India, consumers in India want competitive pricing, personalized service and expert service. Wizard Home Loans is capable of providing these services to customers in India. The research further pointed towards Hyderabad as a potential real estate market. “In view of this, we have chosen Hyderabad as the second city to launch operations,” he added.

Wizard takes the hassles out of the process of buying a new home. Wizard's dedicated lending manager explains the intricacies of home loans to a customer. A home loan from Wizard can be had in just four days making it one of the fastest turnaround times for home loan approval. Wizard home loans had taken the home loan market in India by storm when it announced a home loan at 9.99 percent in September 2007. Besides lending for the property, Wizard also provides loans for the fixtures and furnishings used in home decor. Customers can have a home loan of up to 90 percent of the property value and can extend the repayment terms up to 25 years in some cases.

Presently Wizard Home Loans is having its offices in Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, and Hyderabad. The addresses of these offices are listed below for the convenience of our readers:

Wizard - Delhi

62, Dayanand Marg, Darya Ganj, New Delhi– 110 002
A-17, Northex Mall, Rohini Sec-9 Delhi
F - 14, Plot No 13, Manish Mega Plaza, Sector - 5, Dwarka, New Delhi -110075
4/5 B, Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi -110002.
G - 9, Shivam House, Commercial Complex, Karampura, Opp Milan Cinema, New Delhi -15.
Shop No. 13, LSC, B- 8 & 9, Vasant Kunj, (Opp. G.D.Goenka Public School), New Delhi - 110070.
Wizard - Gurgaon

Shop No. SG - 4 , Galleria Market , DLF Phase - 4 , Gurgaon - 122002
140, First Floor, DT Mega Mall, DLF CITY - 1, Gurgaon
SCF 92, First Flr, Main Market, Sector -14, Gurgaon.
Wizard - Noida

UG-20, Parasvnath Plaza, Sector – 27, Noida, U.P
Wizard - Faridabad

SCF No.6, Ground Floor Sector 17 Faridabad, Near Ekant Restaurant
Wizard - Hyderabad

S-30, Shop No. 3&4, Shree Rama Towers, Kukuatally, Main Road, Hyderabad - 500072
3-12-64, Balaji Nagar, Near Kamineni Hospitals, L.B. Nagar, Hyderabad-500068
Shop No. 1&2, 1 - 98/90/24/2 & 3, Near Indian Oil Petrol Station, Ayyappa Society Road, Madhapur, Hyderabad - 500033

Kotak to invest Rs250 cr for IVR Prime’s realty projects

Real estate player IVR Prime has informed that Kotak India Realty Fund Ltd will invest Rs250 crore for developing the former’s realty projects.

Kotak India will invest Rs250 crore in IVR Prime’s multi -use integrated development projects, the realty player informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company added that a few more realty funds are also inclined to join hands with IVR Prime for developing some of its projects.
IVR Prime Urban Developers is the real estate arm of Hyderabad-based construction and infrastructure company IVRCL Infrastructures and Projects.

It has a total land reserve of 2,850 acres around cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore and Visakhapatnam.
Kotak Realty Fund, established in May 2005, is one of India’s first private equity funds with a focus on real estate and real estate intensive businesses.

Realty companies see big money in city side of small airports

Several real-estate developers like Omaxe, L&T, Unitech and GMR are keenly bidding for city-side development of the four airports at Udaipur, Amritsar, Vizag and Ahmedabad. This is the first lot of airports which has been taken up by the civil aviation ministry for city-side development.

“While pre-qualification bids have been invited for Udaipur and Amritsar, the other two (airports) will be taken up early next year,” said a civil aviation ministry official.

Omaxe, L&T and Unitech have already applied for the Rs 200-crore development projects at Udaipur and Amritsar. The work includes commercial operations and maintenance of the airport terminal building, besides development of 46,268 sq metres and 110,308 sq metres of land for city-side development and cargo handling facilities at Udaipur and Amritsar, respectively.

Car-parking facilities of 13,000-14,000 square metres are also planned near each airport. The pre-qualification process for these airports started in October. The short-list, already delayed, is expected to be out later this month or early next month. The bids will be invited on the basis of the list.

“Once the first process is over, the qualified bidders will submit tenders, which will be processed early next year. The construction work should begin by February,” said an Omaxe executive.

Omaxe has tied up with several airport operators for its foray. Unitech also confirmed the development. Omaxe is also doing construction for Chennai and Kolkata airports, both of which are being developed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

L&T, which has done construction work for all privatised metro airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, has bid for Udaipur and is eyeing Amritsar, Vizag and Ahmedabad as well.

“We have already bid for Udaipur and Amritsar and are also looking at Ahmedabad and Amritsar. Apart from that, we will obviously be open to any other potential project that comes our way,” said a source in L&T.

According to the AAI projections, the number of flights from Amritsar is slated to almost double in the next two years and the cargo traffic is likely to grow 55 per cent. The projected traffic growth at Udaipur, however, is a mere 10 per cent with no clear trends for cargo.

India Inc decides to hold on to land bank

India Inc is realising it’s wiser to hold on to the goose that lays golden eggs, rather than to sell it off, particularly if the price of gold is expected to keep rising. The real estate boom, in the first stage, had a number of industrial companies capitalising on their land assets by selling them out to developers. But now companies are realising there’s more money to be made out of retaining the real estate.

Many companies, including those in sectors such as apparel, jewellery and tobacco, are turning their physical assets into a long-term revenue generator by forming joint ventures with construction companies for development of the property, rather than bringing one-time funds infusion into the balance sheet.

Take jewellery maker Rajesh Exports, for instance. The company, which has 32 properties spread across Bangalore and Kerala, took a board nod early this year for development of these properties. In a statement Rajesh Exports chairman Rajesh Mehta said, “We feel that even though the development may require time, it would be worth it as it would fetch very attractive valuations compared to selling of the land bank.”

He is not alone in taking a contrarian view on the real estate assets. Another such company is cigarette maker GTC. The company which has assets in some prime locations in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Baroda etc, has already initiated moves to develop part of its assets.

Its 2.75 acre land at Hyderabad, for instance, is being developed into a mall which would include a four-screen multiplex. In this property, GTC would own 50% of the built up area of the mall while the entire investment for the development of the property would come from its partner.

Says GTC, chairman, Sanjay Dalmia, “I don’t believe in selling land. We would rather add value by developing it through strategic joint ventures and thereby enhancing shareholder value.” Its the same scene in various other parts of the country.

For instance, in Gurgaon, textile company House of Pearl Fashions recently entered into a 47.5: 52.5 joint venture for a commercial project on a 9-acre plot on the Delhi Jaipur highway with Delhi-based real estate firm Ansal API.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport awards bookstore concessions

Hyderabad, India - GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), which is developing the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad, has selected Odyssey India Ltd for setting up a bookstore in the new airport. The concessional agreement with this book retailer, belonging to the Deccan Chronicle Group, is for three-years starting from the airport launch in March 2008.

Odyssey has been selected the preferred bidder based on both technical and financial evaluations, such as its background, network of operations in India, proposed categories of merchandise for the bookstore outlets and concept planned for this outlet.

As per the contract, Odyssey will set up and operate the bookstore of its Company in the Passenger Terminal Building - International Departure area - in the airport, spread over an area of 42 sq. meters. Odyssey is expected to complete the interior fit out works before the end of December 2007, and start its operations by February 01, 2008.

Odyssey will offer an extensive range of newspapers, magazines, books, music and movies providing an undisturbed and pleasurable shopping experience in a friendly ambience with colourful and vibrant spaces.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. T Srinagesh, COO — GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd said "We are sure Odyssey being a renowned book retailer will offer the top-class shopping experience to the air-travelers in the new international airport in line with our vision of providing the world-class airport experience."

Earlier in the month, GHIAL awarded the retail bookstore concession for the Passenger Terminal Building - Domestic Departure and Arrivals, to Landmark. As per the contract, Landmark will set up and operate the bookstore, covering approximately an area of 80 sqm, by February 01, 2007. Landmark will offer an extensive range of newspapers, magazines, books, music and movies. The agreement is for a three-year period starting from the Airport opening date.