Brigade, Singapore's GIC form realty JV; to invest Rs 1,500 cr

Realty firm Brigade Enterprises Ltd today entered into a joint venture with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC to invest up to Rs 1,500 crore for developing housing and mixed-use projects in South India.
"Brigade Group and GIC through its affiliate company have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on September 1, 2014 to jointly invest up to Rs 1,500 crores in residential and mixed-use developments in select cities of South India," the Bangalore-based realty firm said in a filing to the BSE.
The JV aims at acquiring land for projects in cities primarily where the demand for high-quality residential units is high, it added.

"Our first joint venture project -- Brigade Cosmopolis is a well conceived, residential community with several amenities coming up at Whitefield, Bangalore that will be home to over 880 families. It is already under construction and witnessing robust sales," Brigade Group CMD MR Jaishankar said.
The JV would provide a platform to acquire and execute a series of similar projects in South India and further strengthen the partnerships, he added.
"As a long term value investor, GIC is believer in India's growth potential. We seek partners who share our philosophy and values and have a reputable track record in the markets in which they operate. We are therefore pleased with the opportunity to partner Brigade in this joint venture," said Lee Kok Sun, MD and Co-head, Asia, GIC Real Estate.

Brigade has completed over 100 buildings comprising development of over 20 million sq ft and it is targeting to complete 30 million sq ft in the next five years.

GIC is among the world's largest fund management companies. It was established in 1981 to manage Singapore's foreign reserves.
Since its inception, GIC gas grown from managing a few billion dollars to well above USD 100 billion today. It has investments across 40 countries and in assets such as equities, fixed income, realty and private equity.
According to property consultant Cushman & Wakefiled, many sovereign and pension funds are committing funds to Indian real estate, like All Pensions Group, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Qatar Investment Authority, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, State General Reserve Fund of Oman and GIC of Singapore, through fund managers.