Domina Hotel Group Expands In India With 25 New Hotels: Overall Value 600.000.000 US$

Domina Hotel Group expands in India with the realization and management of 25 new hotels. The project will be run by an equal joint venture with Shristi Holding, quoted in the Indian National Stock Exchange and part of Kanoria Group with offices in India, Germany and Russia. Shristi is one of the primary Indian Real Estate firms. Within 2012, the overall value of the hotel complex will amount approximately to 600.000.000 US$. The operation foresees the establishment of a joint venture divided in equal parts amongst the two groups that will control the management of the assets, whilst the real estate development will be realised by Shristi Corporation. The project is based on the creation of 4 star, medium-large scale, 100-200 rooms hotels and resorts, located in the main cities or holiday resorts in India (including destinations such as New Delhi, Mumbay, Calcutta, Puri, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Udaipur). The plan will be realized in the next 5 years and others structures will be added subsequently. The hotels will be constructed following eco-sustainable parameters (vanguard standard constructions in the observance of holistic precepts and Indian tradition), will be equipped with all comforts, hi-technology, body treatments and wellness services. The first hotels are already under construction and will be marketed with the new brand Vedic Domina Hotels & Resorts. "We are proud to announce the new expansion of our Group in the Indian market" says Ernesto Preatoni, Domina Hotel Group's Chairman. "We are the first Italian operator of the hotel sector to enter the Indian market proving one more time our pioneer component that has already made us invest in Egypt twenty years ago, in the Baltic Region in the '90s and recently in Russia. Throughout our development plans we have always been taking with us our portfolio of worldwide experiences, Italian style and all the fundamental elements to realize projects of success." says François Droulers, Domina Hotel Group's Vice President Director of Development and Acquistions. Domina Hotel Group has recently presented a capital increase of 10.000.000 EUR approximately and has registered a total turnover of 46.000.000 EUR for the 2006 financial year and anticipates that the 2007 financial year will be closed with revenues for 60.000.000 EUR. Source://sys-con.com

Pai Solebille moves into Indian real estate market

Pai Solebille, driven by a bouyant Asian economic growth surge, is to move into real estate India and property consulting. Cambridge, 16th October 2007 - Pai Solebille was founded in 2006 at Cambridge (United Kingdom) and wishes to take a leading position in the IT contracting/outsourcing and the real estate market. With an active growth in the Asian economies including China and India, of over 9% per annum, Pai Solebille has always been actively seeking to move its interests into these economies. Real estate is one area that is seeing a huge growth in these economies, with returns averaging over 25% per annum. Places in India like Bangalore and Pune, which form the Information Technology hubs, have seen higher than average growth, due to the booming services industry. Infrastructure is one area that closely mirrors economic growth. Pai Solebille is actively engaging the major property developers in India, ensuring that investing in the real estate market remains stress free for our customers. The key areas of growth established are around Bangalore and Pune, in the south of India. Pai Solebille will be setting up offices at these two locations by the end of November 2007. Source://openpr.com

India's DLF To Raise $1.5B In Debt Abroad

India’s largest land developer by market value, said Thursday it is borrowing up to $1.5 billion overseas to fund expansion. In a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, DLF said its board had approved raising loans through a wholly-owned subsidiary abroad. It will spend $750 million to further business in India and $750 million to buy shares in an initial public offering of DLF Offices Trust in Singapore. New Delhi-based DLF raised $2.27 billion in June in the country’s largest IPO. Its stock has risen approximately 75% since then, amid soaring investor interest in the real estate sector, which is growing at 30% annually. On Thursday, DLF shares rose 2.7% to 918.75 rupees ($23.50) on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Earlier this month, the company said it is collaborating with Dubai-based land developer Limitless Holdings to build a $15 billion township on the outskirts of Bangalore (See: “ DLF Surges On Township Deal With Dubai”). The township will be the company’s largest, spread over 9,000 acres. DLF, controlled by billionaire Kushal Pal Singh, has around 615 million square feet of land under development, about half of it in Delhi and Mumbai. With the economy humming, a fivefold increase in office space is expected over next five years, plus about 20 million new housing units and 50,000 new hotel rooms. The government now permits 100% foreign direct investment in large residential townships, and the last few months have seen significant interest from foreign investors. In the last 18 months, they have pumped about $4.5 billion into the sector, according to industry estimates. Earlier this week, New York-based Trikona Capital, an India-specific real estate fund, said it plans to invest about $10 billion over 10 years in India. It plans to raise money by listing either on the Indian markets or an international exchange. In 2006, Trikona raised around $500 million by listing its fund Trinity Capital on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market. Source://forbes.com

Real estate market to grow at 33 percent

The real estate market in India is expected to grow at 33 percent between 2005-2010, and increase its worth from $12 billion to $50 billion.

Total housing spend is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18.60 percent from Rs 171,800 crore in 2005 to Rs 403,400 crore in 2010.

A seminar on "South India - the changing impact of the real estate boom," organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce on Thursday portrayed a tremendous increase in real estate prices in southern cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.

This IT golden triangle makes them the most favourable location for IT/ITeS occupiers, with a capital flow into commercial real estate over the next three years estimated at more than Rs 23,200 crore. C Appaiah, senior executive at DTZ India, said that Bangalore had the highest absorption of land at 11.5 million square feet, and Hyderabad was a strong contender with Bangalore.

"Mysore is going to be a twin city to Bangalore like Mumbai and Pune and will help decongest Bangalore. Coimbatore will be similar to Mysore," he said. Southern states continue to lead in economic performance due to the IT industry.

He said that tier II cities were becoming popular for companies that were looking to expand but these places suffered from lack of infrastructure and smaller talent pool.

Mayank Saksena, assistant vice president of retail services at Jones Long Lasalle Meghraj, speaking on the changing impact of real estate boom on retail and hospitality sector, said that there was a huge opportunity for real estate retail because close to 95 percent of space was below 5,000 square feet. Delhi has 41 percent of the share in real estate retail, Mumbai 20 percent while Bangalore and other southern cities lag behind at below five percent.

Saksena said that the boom was putting pressure on retailers to reduce their store formats. “It will push budget hotels, hypermarkets and supermarkets to suburban locations and retailers will have to play a dual role of developers and retailers,'' he added. Source://newindpress.com

Brigade Enterprises files DRHP with SEBI

Brigade Enterprises, a real estate Bangalore-based company focusing on the development of residential, commercial and hospitality properties, has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities & Exchange Board of India to enter the capital market with its initial public offering (IPO) of its equity shares. The company proposes to issue 16,624,720 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash, at a price to be decided through the 100% book building process. The issue comprises a net issue to the public of 16,524,720 equity shares and a reservation of up to 100,000 equity shares for eligible employees. There will also be a green shoe option of up to 2,493,708 equity shares. The equity shares offered through this issue are proposed to be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India. At least 60% of the issue will be available for allocation to qualified institutional bidders on a proportionate basis, of which 5% shall be available to mutual funds only. Further, up to 10% of the issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to non-institutional investors and up to 30% of the issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to retail individual investors. The issue will constitute 16.87% of the fully diluted post issue paid-up capital of the Company assuming that the Green Shoe Option is exercised in full and 15.00% assuming that the Green Shoe Option is not exercised. The primary objective of the issue is to fuel the future growth plans of the company, including by way of acquisition of land, meeting construction and development costs in relation to the company’s ongoing and forthcoming real estate projects and general corporate purposes. The global co-ordinators and book running lead managers to the issue are J P Morgan India Private Limited and Enam Securities Private Limited and the co-book running lead manager is ICICI Securities Limited. Source://moneycontrol.com

Indiareit Plans to Raise up to $750 Million for Property Fund

Indiareit Fund Advisors, the venture capital firm that counts 3i Group Plc among its investors, plans to raise up to $750 million overseas for what may become India's second-largest real estate fund.

The Mumbai-based company may begin tapping investors in the U.S., Europe, Middle East and Japan by year-end, Managing Director Ramesh Jogani said in an interview in Mumbai yesterday. The fund will invest in companies building apartments, malls and offices in India.

India, the fastest-growing major economy after China, may receive as much as $10 billion in overseas funds betting on real estate in the coming 2 1/2 years, Indiareit estimates. Housing Development Finance Corp., Infrastructure Leasing & Finance Ltd., and Kotak Mahindra Bank are among institutions raising money to invest in unlisted developers and projects.

``Demand for space in India seems unending,'' said Raja Seetharaman, associate director at Jones Lang LaSalle Property Consultants in Mumbai. ``Investors are looking for a big opportunity in India as the economy is poised to grow a minimum 7.5 percent over the next few years.''

Real estate funds focused on India have attracted about $3 billion so far, according to Indiareit, on optimism economic growth that averaged 8.6 percent over the past four years will power demand for offices, shopping malls and residences.

India's real estate industry may swell to $90 billion by 2015 from $12 billion in 2005, Moody's Investors Service said in June.

``All the signs are there that the momentum will be maintained,'' Jogani said.

Residential Boom

Indiareit, which raised $200 million from individuals and companies overseas last year and 4.3 billion rupees ($106 million) domestically, plans investments in projects in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. ABN Amro Holding NV and ICICI Bank Ltd. helped it raise the money.

London-based 3i Group, Europe's biggest publicly traded private equity firm, invested $40 million in the $200 million fund Indiareit closed in September last year.

Indiareit has earmarked about two-thirds of the amount raised for its real estate funds to residential projects, seeking to profit from rising demand for homes as salaries rise, Jogani said. India faces a shortage of 25 million houses, according to HDFC.

Housing Development Finance, India's second-biggest home mortgage lender, last month raised $800 million from overseas investors for a nine-year real estate fund, exceeding the $630 million drawn by SUN Apollo Real Estate Fund in January.

Kotak Real Estate Fund is raising $350 million from overseas investors in addition to the $500 million it raised locally to invest in houses, offices, hotels and warehouses, Vikas Chimakoorti, a partner at the fund, said last week.

IL&FS Investment Managers Ltd. and U.S-based Milestone Capital Advisors Pvt. plan to raise 10 billion rupees to invest in hotels, hospitals, warehouses, offices and houses.

Source://bloomberg.com

Plaza Centers to Invest 50 Billion Rupees in India

Plaza Centers NV, the developer of malls controlled by Israel's Elbit Medical Imaging Ltd., plans to invest 50 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) in India to build entertainment and commercial centers.

Plaza will develop 50 properties in five to seven years, the Amsterdam-registered company said in a statement in Mumbai today. The company will construct the malls in cities such as Bangalore and Pune.

Plaza is investing in real estate India market as economic growth puts more money in the hands of Indians, fuelling demand for shopping malls and entertainment centers. The country's real-estate development market is forecast to increase to $90 billion by 2015 from $12 billion in 2005, Moody's Investors Service said in June, citing market estimates.

Earlier this year, Plaza acquired 50 percent of a development in the Kharadi district of Pune, Maharashtra, for an unspecified amount. The 14-acre site will be developed into a mall, offices and apartments, costing $175 million to build. Plaza also bought a 50 percent stake in a six-acre site in Koregaon Park, Pune, which is being developed at a cost of about $90 million.

Resource://bloomberg.com