Shriram and Xander US$350M PE deal for SEZ expansion.

India is a bright spot and an exciting market for investors, both global and local, looking to tap into the huge opportunities in the real estate industry in the country, said M. Murali, Managing Director, Shriram Properties.

Given the huge potential, Shriram Properties wants to be an integral part of “this India growth story”, he added after closing a US$350 million Private Equity deal with Xander Group.

With this deal, Xander acquires 100% interest in Shriram’s Gateway Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Chennai for US$190 million, with a further commitment of US$160 million towards expansion of the IT SEZ.

The deal involves 1.7 million square feet of occupied and operational SEZ, and a partnership with Shriram Properties to deliver the under construction 1.9 million square feet.

Shriram Gateway is a 58-acre integrated township project including office space, a shopping mall and residential apartments.

This deal comes at the back of the recent announcement by Shriram Properties on their plans to invest Rs 15,000 crore over the next 7-8 years for the development of around 30 ongoing projects, across six major cities – Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Vizag, Coimbatore and Kolkata. Shriram Properties holds close to 2% of the FDI in India, the largest by a single developer.

Shriram Properties has raised till date PE investments of about US$ 460 million from investors at entity level as well as projects level being largely residential. They have been backed by a marquee list of investors, which includes Walton Street, Starwood Capital, TPG Capital, Tata Opportunities Fund, ASK, Motilal Oswal, Amplus and ICICI Prudential.

Shriram Properties, the property development arm of the Rs 90,000 crores financial giant Shriram Group, Chennai, is a multi-crore company with nearly Rs 25,000 crores business across the country. fii-news.com