International realty fund Ireo to invest $2 bn in two years
International realty fund Ireo to invest $2 bn in two years
New Delhi: International real estate fund Ireo has earmarked $2 billion, or Rs9,800 crore, for investment in India, plans to launch up to 8 million sq. ft of residential and commercial projects across the country over the next 12 months.
The fund, which has been present in India since 2003, has 13 projects in its portfolio at present in New Delhi’s suburbs, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
“Ireo is a fully integrated real estate organization that is both the financier and developer of its projects," Anurag Bhargava, chairman, Ireo Management Pvt. Ltd, said. “We have residential, commercial and hospitality projects in our portfolio."
Ireo’s latest drive in the Indian real estate market comes at a time when real estate prices have seen a correction from their peak levels of 2007. Prices have corrected between 10-25% across cities.
Bhargava said the fund’s residential projects are priced between Rs2,200 and Rs4,500 per sq. ft. “These are more realistic prices at which there is demand," he said.
Ireo owns 3,000 acres of land.
Of the $2 billion raised, the fund has already invested $1.5 billion since 2003 and plans to invest the remaining $500 million over the next one or two years, Bhargava said.
While the fund has so far not invested in projects of other listed realty developers, Bhargava said Ireo has a flexible investment approach and it would be open to making investment in other real estate projects.
The fund has started construction of a 5 million sq. ft information technology-focused special economic zone in Pune that is to be completed in 2010, and sale and construction of 3 million sq. ft of housing projects in the western city.
Ireo has partnered with Panchshil Realty and Ascendas India Trust for some of its projects in Pune and Coimbatore.
Ireo counts JPMorgan Chase and Co., TPG-Axon Capital Management Lp and Citadel Investment Group Llc, besides sovereign wealth funds and endowments such as Stanford University, University of Notre Dame and University of Rochester among its backers. Global real estate developers such as Stephen Ross and the Taubman and Reichmann family have also invested in the fund.
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