Noida-based builder Supertech has paid Rs 415 crore to PE fund Xander for partial exit from the company, said a person close to the development.
Xander had invested in the builder's township project in Gurgaon's Sector 79 about a year and a half back. The Singapore-based real estate investment arm of the Xander Group had put in Rs 400 crore at the time, but in two parts — Rs 300 crore and Rs 100 crore — through a structured debt transaction, said the person. "The exit is for the first part of the investment, of Rs 300 crore. Supertech has paid Xander Rs 415 crore," he said.
Email questionnaires sent by ET to Supertech as well as Xander did not elicit any response. Supertech has paid Xander through a combination of internal accruals and funds raised from Kotak Realty Fund and Indiabulls Real Estate earlier. It had raised Rs 150 crore from Kotak Realty Fund in 2014 and Rs 100 crore from Indiabulls Real Estate Fund in 2015. "The cost of Xander's funds was much higher at 24% while money from the other two came in relatively cheaper," said the person quoted above, seeking anonymity.
Supertech had taken the money from Xander to pay for more land that it was buying in Gurgaon around its new township. It already had around 100 acres of land and was in the process of buying more land and then start construction at the township.
As costs of funds have come down, several builders are seeking refinancing of their older deals that had been struck at higher cost.
In Bengaluru, builder Century Real Estate had recently raised Rs 725 crore from Piramal Fund Management and NBFC Altico Capital. The builder will use a part of the proceeds to give an exit, valued at Rs 375 crore, to Kotak Realty Fund. In Gurgaon, builder Orris Infrastructure had taken Rs 325 crore of cheaper capital from NBFC IndoStar Capital and used the money to pre-pay Rs 200 crore to Xander and Rs 65 crore to Religare, both of which had put in high-cost money with the builder sometime back.
In the absence of strong home sales across most major markets in the country, several builders have been raising money from non-banking finance companies and PE funds to refinance their existing debt or to finish construction of pending projects. In Bengaluru, land aggregator and developer Manyata Promoters is raising Rs 725 crore jointly from the NBFC arm of Edelweiss and IIFL.
source: indiatimes