Raheja, Unitech head for LSE to raise $1 bn

Real estate companies have found an alternative way of raising money. Two realty firms — K Raheja and Unitech — are in the process of raising at least $1 billion from the alternative investment market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange.

Real estate sources said the two groups would raise $500 million each from the AIM in three-four months. Sources close to the Raheja group said the company would float a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for a particular project that would get listed with the AIM in three months.

The group has appointed Enam Financial Consultants for the purpose, they added. They said the Unitech group would follow the SPV model as well.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com

Indian builders target NRIs with roadshows in US

Reaching out to around 3.22 million non-resident Indians (NRIs) and Indian Americans, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) is planning to hold a series of property expos in the US.

Partnering CREDAI at the real estate expo to be held in New Jersey, Chicago and San Jose in California between Aug 24 and Sept 4 would be the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry.
‘The India Property 2006 is targeted at the Indian Americans who have a growing need to buy and invest in India as they believe that real estate here is a safe and economic investment that would appreciate in value,’ a CREDAI spokesperson said Wednesday.

The industry group is confident of a good response after the interest generated by expos held earlier in the Gulf region.

Come home to Kolkata, all is well driven

Real estate advertising in Kolkata turns dynamic as the local boom drives it from a sellers' market to a buyer's one.

Kolkata’s real-estate drive has already altered the landscape — by way of advertising. Outsized hoardings of swank residential projects, glitzy arcades and other wonders dot the city liberally. Kolkata has never looked so good, even if it’s mostly all imagery for the moment.

By one estimate, real estate ads occupy as much as 40 per cent of all out-of-home (OOH) space in the city, including bus shelters and other street furniture. The local papers are full of it too. The sector is the second largest print advertiser, and “the fastest growing among all categories” in the words of Dinesh Jain, vice-president, marketing, newspapers, ABP.

Real estate MFs: new option for investors

THE SECURITIES and Exchange Board of India recently spelt out its guidelines for real estate mutual funds (REMFs). However, it seems unlikely that any REMF will be launched in the near future, considering the ground realities.

A real estate mutual fund invests in the real estate market and is governed by existing SEBI mutual fund regulations. Despite the nomenclature, an REMF is different from other mutual fund schemes that investors are getting used to in this country. There are, of course, significant commonalities: like other MFs an REMF is based on the concept of pooled diversification. Relatively small investments of individual investors are routed through professional fund managers who have explicitly stated investment objectives.

real estate overtakes IT

THE real estate sector, particularly housing, in West Bengal has never had it so good. With a consistent 35 per cent growth over the last two years, it has outpaced even the Information Technology (IT) sector. In fact, Kolkata today ranks among the top six cities in India when it comes to growth in the housing sector.

Easy availability of home loans and the simultaneous growth of the IT sector are seen as the key drivers of this housing boom, apart from the joint sector model in which the government can aggregate land while the private partner builds the enclaves.

Source:
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=191888

Dubai's Emaar to Invest $4b in India

Emaar Properties announced it expects 30 percent of its overseas sales to come from India in the next two years. The Dubai-based company, which is the Middle East's largest publicly traded real-estate developer, said it would join India's MGF Land in investing $4 billion in projects ranging from townships, hotels, hospitals and golf courses. During an interview with Bloomberg, Shravan Gupta, CEO of Emaar's Indian unit said the company expects $8 billion in revenue from the projects.

Last May Emmar announced plans for three new projects in Karachi, Pakistan, worth a total of $2.4 billion. Last year the multi-billion company also began large-scale projects in other Middle Eastern countries, such as a $26.6 billion business and residential complex in Saudi Arabia, and a $1.2 billion golf resort in Morocco.

The global real estate corporation also marked a milestone in its quest to build the world’s tallest tower, Burj Dubai, as the building reached its 50th level on June 20.

Source: http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?newsid=14226