Piramal, Canada Pension fund join hands for $500 mn debt fund

The money will be used for financing residential projects across India's major urban centres

Piramal Enterprises Limited (PEL) and Credit Investments Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), have joined hands for launching a rupee debt fund worth $500 million for financing residential projects across India’s major urban centres. CPPIB and PEL have each initially committed $250 million for this purpose. Indiareit Fund Advisors (Indiareit), the real estate fund management arm of PEL, has been appointed as advisor.

The focus will be on residential developments in Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai.  

“This opportunity allows us to participate in India’s burgeoning middle class residential sector which has demonstrated compelling fundamentals through ongoing population and income growth, and rapid urbanisation,” said Graeme Eadie, Senior Vice-President and Head of Real Estate Investments, CPPIB.  

Macquarie Capital acted as the sole financial advisor to PEL on the transaction. CPPIB was advised by Vikram Gandhi, founder of VSG Capital Advisors, and CPPIB’s Senior Advisor for investment opportunities in India.

Ajay Piramal, Chairman, Piramal Enterprises Ltd said, “This is an opportune time to be creating an aligned pool of capital to target what we believe to be very compelling financing opportunities in the real estate sector."