US-based alternative investment fund (AIF) Varde Partners has invested Rs 400 crore in Chennai based real-estate developer Casagrand Builders for purchase of land in Chennai for development.
The money was invested against the portfolio of real-estate projects and the builder has already drawn Rs 200 crore. The builder is in talks to buy a 45-acre land parcel at Kelambakkam Road, Chennai. “The land belonged to a Dutch firm and has been sold for over Rs 3 crore per acre.
The deal comes back of a recent Rs 440 crore investment made by Varde Partners in Omaxe Group Project in Delhi-NCR. The AIF has also made investments in two commercial projects of Phoenix Group in Hyderabad and acquired a commercial building from Lodha Group in 2020 for around $ one billion.
Casagrand is looking to develop a mid-income multi-story apartment project on the Kelambakkam road, priced upwards of Rs 4,000 sq ft. It currently operates in the mid-income residential category priced upwards Rs 35 lakhs and upto 1.5 crore in Chennai, CBRE, the transaction advisor. Chennai-based builder has brought 20 acres of land in Perambur, Chennai from PVP Ventures.
“It had purchased eight acres outright while the remaining land is under JDA (Joint Development Agreement). Casagrand is looking to buy more land in the south to expand its residential portfolio. Recently the builder received funding of Rs 1,200 crore from international investors including Apollo Global and KKR.
Casagrand will add 25 mn sq ft of residential property by 2024 and 5 mn sq ft of office projects. It aims to achieve a sales target of Rs 3,750 crore this fiscal up from Rs 2,300 crore in 2021- 22.
