Peninsula, Lehman form real estate JV

Ashok Piramal company Peninsula Land and global investment major Lehman Brothers are likely to set up a Rs 700 crore joint venture for investing in real estate projects.

While Lehman will invest Rs 500 crore and hold 75 per cent in the JV, Peninsula Land will subscribe to the remaining equity at an investment of Rs 200 crore, according to sources in the know.

Peninsula Land Executive Vice-Chairman Rajeev Piramal could not be contacted for comments.

"Currently, Peninsula is raising funds to invest in its projects in Mumbai, Nashik and other cities. It has also announced a real estate fund, which is yet to be closed. Hence, the proposed JV would garner funds for its new projects," sources said. Peninsula has announced two real estate funds - Indigo and Paramount.

Recently, Peninsula approved the qualified institutional placement (QIP) of 43.7 million equity shares at Rs 120 per share to raise Rs 525 crore for its projects.

Last year, the company sold 5,75,000 sq ft of office space at its Dawn Mills property at Lower Parel, Mumbai, to Alok Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Alok Industries, for Rs 1,100 crore.

In the recent months, investment and private equity major Lehman Brothers has increased its exposure in Indian real estate. It invested $200 million in KP Singh's DLF Assets and nearly $100 million with Kishore Biyani-led Future Capital to set up five-star hotels in the country.