Warburg Pincus to invest Rs1,800 crore in Piramal Realty

Piramal Realty, the real estate development arm of Piramal Group, yesterday said announced that an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing, will invest Rs1,800 crorefor a minority stake in the company.

''Warburg Pincus invests in companies with high growth potential and believes that Piramal Realty is best positioned to achieve leadership in one of the world's most attractive real estate markets," said Niten Malhan, India co-head of Warburg Pincus.

Founded in 2011, Piramal Realty is a Mumbai-based developer that has over 10 million square feet under development in prime areas of Byculla, Thane, Worli, BKC and Mulund.

Piramal Realty aspires to be the gold standard in design, quality, safety and customer centricity in both residential and commercial real estate. It works with some of the world's leading architectural practices such as KPF, Fosters, SOM and Make and leading contractors such as L&T and Eversendai.

Malhan added, "Piramal Group's strengths such as its strong values, its track record of creating long term value for stakeholders, its trusted brand, its ability to recruit great people, its emphasis on customer centricity and its reputation as strong deal makers are some of the reasons why the firm chose to invest in Piramal Realty.''

The capital raised will be used to expand Piramal Realty's portfolio and acquire marquee land parcels in and around Mumbai.

Ajay Piramal, chairman, Piramal Group said, ''We are delighted to partner with Warburg Pincus for a second time: the first was when they invested in Piramal Healthcare in 1997, and now with Piramal Realty. Warburg Pincus' investment and expertise will raise the level of real estate in India to international standards, as it has done in other industries such as telecom, financial services and pharmaceuticals.''

Leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing, Warburg Pincus has over $35 billion in assets under management. The firm's active portfolio of more than 120 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector and geography.

Its past and current investments in India include Ambuja Cements, Bharti Airtel, Dainik Bhaskar, Diligent Power, Capital First, Gangavaram Port, Havells, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Kalyan Jewellers, Lemontree Hotels, Max India, Metropolis Healthcare, Piramal Healthcare, and Sintex.

Piramal Realty boasts a blue-chip board comprising Deepak Parekh, chairman, HDFC, Nitin Nohria, Dean, Harvard Business School, Robert Booth, former CEO, EMAAR, and Subbu Narayanswamy director, Real Estate / Infrastructure practice, McKinse & Co.