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Indian HNIs make realty investment

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:19:04 +0000

Foreign developers are trying to attract Indian HNI (High Net Worth Individual). HNIs are people with net financial assets (liquid assets) of at least $1 million, excluding primary residence and consumables. India is projected to be the world’s third largest economy by 2050. A subsequent increase in the number of wealthy individuals, real estate consultants from across the world are trying and also getting the HNI segment interested enough to buy.
Strong GDP growth, robust figures in industrial and service sectors, high market capitalization and steady FII inflows are some factors contributing to the rise in HNI wealth. In 2006, India’s HNI population crossed the one lakh figure, which made it the second-fastest growing HNI segment in the world.

IHC To Spend One Billion Dollar On Buying Hotels

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:16:46 +0000

Indian Hospitality Corporation (IHC), a joint venture of Gordon House Hotels, Mars Restaurant and SkyGourmet Catering formed last year, plans to spend as much as $1 billion to acquire hotel groups and restaurant chains.

The company has hired Ravi Deol as chairman and chief executive of Mars Restaurants, the hotel and food services division of IHC, to initate acquisitions. Deol is the former managing director of Barista and ex-chief executive of FieldFresh Foods.

Mr. Deol told, “We are looking to add 2,000 hotel rooms across 17 cities, including metros and towns such as Lucknow, Amrtisar, Raipur, Chandigarh among others. We may acquire hotel groups having 5-7 properties. We are also looking at acquiring restaurants or restaurant chains and then take them to the leadership position”.

All these acquisitions will be done by Mars Restaurant. Mr. Deol said”We may go for a rebranding of an existing hotel chain as and when we acquire them”.

IHC has formed a $200-million ‘hospitality opportunity fund’ and $220 million worth of warrants to be converted into equity. The balance amount will be raised by selling equity or through borrowings.

Mars Restaurants has brands Such as Tendulkars’ (a 50:50 joint venture with cricketer Sachin Tendulkar), China Joe, The Pizzeria, Dosa Diner among others, while Gordon House is a venture of Mars Restaurants and currently has three properties in Mumbai and Pune. The acquisitions will add to the portfolio of Gordon House hotels.

The Indian leisure and hospitality industry is set for high growth, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. According to industry estimates, the Indian hotel and hospitality industry generates foreign exchange earnings of Rs 35,000 crore each year in addition to Rs 10,000-12,000 crore generated from Indian customers.

The market size of branded fast-food and dine-in restaurants is estimated at over Rs 600 crore. This segment is grwoing in double digits annually attracting players like IHC.

According to sources, popular north Indian restaurant chain Nirulas along with Clarks hotel chain may be on the radar of IHC for acquisition and subsequent re-branding.

On the air-catering front, IHC is looking to expand SkyGourmet to 11 cities from six metros at present. SkyGourment will soon set up its air catering facilities in Kochi, Jaipur and Amritsar among other cities.

Mr. Deol said, “We will also expand our air catering services globally when Kingfisher goes international. We are already catering for Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Air India Express, Indian Airlines, Malaysian Airlines and Air France. We are looking at providing catering to Emirates and Lufthansa too”. Sky Gourmet was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Mumbai and employs about 1150 people.

SMR Ltd Plans To Invest In Malaysia Cybercity

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:35:09 +0000

Mumbai-based Sunil Mantri Realty Ltd plans to invest about hundred million U.S. dollars to participate in the development of Bandar MSC Cyberport in Kulai, the first Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) cybercity in Malaysian southern Johor state. This is for the first time that an Indian company is investing in malaysia cybercity. The company signed the MoU to jointly develop this more that one billion’s ringgit development.

MSC Cyberport chief executive officer Mr. Ganesh Kumar Bangah said, “The hundred million U.S. dollars investment from Sunil Mantri will be injected to develop Phase one of Bandar MSC Cyberport, covering a size of 13.2 ha. Work on the project is expected to start at the end of the year”.

Mr. Bangah said, “It will be a mixed development with residential, commercial and ICT spaces targeting the IT operations of MNCs, while developing local technology companies and technopreneurs.

Dubai Properties displayed at Mumbai Extravaganza aiming Indian Investor

admin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:46:21 +0000

Foremost master real estate developer Dubai Properties has participated at the premium luxury show ‘Mumbai Extravaganza 2008’ in Mumbai, India to showcase its most recent portfolio of realty developments including the latest to be announced ‘Mudon’ project, to an elite audience of high net worth visitors and top tier conglomerates.
Mohamed Binbrek, CEO, Dubai Properties, said, “Mumbai Extravaganza gave us an opportunity to present investors with instant information on the latest developments from Dubai Properties, as well as introduce our latest project launches to a new market. Indian nationals are amongst the top investors within the booming real estate market in Dubai”.
In 2007, Indian Nationals spent Dh4 billion on real estate in Dubai and over the past 10 years, they have spent a total of Dh6.5 Billion on the Dubai property sector. While the greater part of these buyers were Indians living within the UAE, 10% of them were living in India or otherwise, proving the existence of a substantial demand for Dubai real estate from outside the UAE.