BackSamhi Group raises ₹650 crore debt from Piramal Capital to fund expansion plans
Samhi, which entered into a structured debt deal with Piramal, will use the funds to support its growth plans and refinance existing lenders across three hotel assets
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Mumbai: Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Ltd (PCHFL), a unit of Piramal Enterprises Ltd, has invested around ₹ 650 crore in Gurugram-based hospitality company Samhi Group, which owns several marque hotel properties such as Four Points by Sheraton and Hyatt Regency, among others, in India.
Samhi, which entered into a structured debt deal with Piramal, will use the funds to support its growth plans and refinance existing lenders across three hotel assets—The Courtyard and Fairfield by Marriott in Bengaluru, the Sheraton in Hyderabad and the Hyatt Regency in Pune, the companies said in a joint statement on Monday.
“We believe that this is an opportune time to target the hospitality sector with ‘intelligent’ capital. As the traditional lenders are unable to provide ‘holistic’ solutions, expertise of our group and our presence across the capital stack enables us to cater to this industry with unique customized solutions and innovative structures," said Khushru Jijina, managing director, Piramal Capital.
On 23 March, Mint reported that Piramal Finance, part of Piramal Enterprises, is working on seven-eight transactions to be closed during the year.
The transactions are part of its larger plan to invest around ₹ 10,000 crore in the next three years, said Jijina.
“The Indian hospitality sector has not just recovered from the slump (post the global financial crisis), but is once again beginning to register robust growth—growth which seems very sustainable over the coming years," Shobhit Agarwal, managing director and chief executive officer, Anarock Capital, a real estate advisory firm, said in a 9 July note. Over a span of six months, Piramal Capital and Housing Finance has deployed around ₹ 2,000 crore in various hospitality firms.
Jijina said the company plans to scale up its investment to achieve a targeted book size of ₹ 10,000 crore over the next three years.
“The industry is firmly on a path of growth, ably supported by both domestic and foreign tourism, has higher disposable income and is witnessing a general change in spending habits of target customers," Jijina said.
This is the third significant investment made by Piramal Capital and Housing Finance in the hospitality sector in the past six months.
It had previously entered into a debt deal of ₹ 600 crore with Vatika Group and a ₹ 600 crore investment deal with Advantage Raheja Group.
Piramal Capital and Housing Finance has made five other transactions totalling around ₹ 450 crore with five hotel assets operated by leading hotel chains such as Taj, Hyatt and Radisson across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Shimla and Goa.
While three of these hotel properties are operational, two are in the final stages of construction, the company said.
Of the total, ₹ 100 crore will be extended as last-mile funding towards completion of the first Taj luxury resort in Himachal Pradesh coming up at Theog, near Shimla.
“We continue to see accretive acquisition opportunities in the hotel sector and we are perhaps best positioned to take advantage of these," said Ashish Jhakanwala, founder and chief executive officer of Samhi Group that owns 29 hotel assets in India.
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