New York Life Insurance to invest Rs 290 cr in Max Group's realty project

New York Life Insurance Company will invest Rs 290 crore to acquire 49 per cent stake in an upcoming commercial project in Gurugram being developed by Max Group firm Max Ventures & Industries Ltd (MaxVIL).

In September last year, MaxVIL's arm Max Estates Ltd acquired Acreage Builders at an enterprise value of Rs 322.50 crore.

Acreage Builders owns 7.15 acre land at Golf Course Extension Road in Gurugram.

In a statement, MaxVIL said Max Estates has completed the 100 per cent acquisition of Acreage Builders, which now has become a step-down wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.

"New York Life Insurance has been onboarded as an equity investor committing Rs 290 crore in Acreage Builders," MaxVIL said.

Max Estates will hold 51 per cent stake and New York Life 49 per cent stake in Acreage Builders, which has a licence to develop this commercial project.

"The developable leasable area is around 1.6 million square feet with a revenue potential of Rs 160200 crore per annum," MaxVIL said.

The company highlighted that New York Life, a financial services company and the largest mutual life insurer in the US, has been its strategic partner in the real estate business since 2017.

New York Life also holds 23 per cent in the holding company MaxVIL, and have co-invested in Max Square Phase 1 & 2 for 49 per cent stake.

"Taking their cumulative commitment in the group to Rs 800 crore," MaxVIL said.

New York Life continues to evaluate co-investment, as a strategic investor, in its commercial real estate business.

Sahil Vachani, MD & CEO of MaxVIL said, This year, the company has embarked upon Max Estates 3.0 journey wherein it exited the speciality packaging films business and redeployed the capital to expand real estate portfolio."

The company has entered in the residential segment, he said.

"With acquisitions this year (completed and in pipeline), we will be ending FY23 with a real estate portfolio of 7-8 million square feet well diversified across Delhi-NCR, asset classes and risk spectrum," Vachani said.

MaxVIL is one of the three holding companies of the USD 4 billion Max Group.

MaxVIL owns and operates a real estate business through its 100 per cent subsidiary Max Estates. It also has a real estate services and management firm Max Asset Services. MaxVIL is listed on the two stock exchanges -- NSE and BSE.

Established in 2016, Max Estates Ltd has developed two commercial (office) projects Max Towers in Noida and Max House in Delhi. It has also built a luxury residential villa community on Rajpur Road, Dehradun.

Max Estates said it aims to create, build and operate Grade A+ office spaces in Delhi-NCR.

The company has entered into a partnership with New York Life Insurance Company for its third commercial project in Delhi-NCR named Max Square.

Recently, the company has also made a foray into the residential segment with its first project planned to be developed in Noida.

On amalgamation status with Max Estates, MaxVIL said it has received the approval from the creditors and shareholders. The second meeting with NCLT is expected in May 2023.

"The amalgamation is expected to be complete in first half of 2023. This will simplify the corporate structure and also enable us to re-name the entity as Max Estates a move that will resonate with real estate as the only focus of the company," the statement said.