Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), a sovereign wealth fund, announced that it is investing US$300 million in RMZ Corp. The deal is one of the biggest investment transactions in the Indian real estate industry, said three sources with direct knowledge of the plans. RMZ Corp. is a Bangalore-based real estate firm and South India's biggest commercial space developer.
"The deal is in advance stage. QIA has committed to give money, and it will be based on project requirements. The investment will be equally split into a combination of equity and debt," said one of the sources.
The capital will be invested into RMZ's special purpose vehicle (SPV) in which private equity group, Baring Private Equity Partners, also had invested INR500 crore in 2012. Baring Private Equity Partners, currently, owns 28% shares of the SPV. The remaining shares are held by the builder. The SPV is a group company of RMZ.
"QIA will invest in the same SPV as BPEP and will back RMZ to buy IT parks worth 3,000 crore. Jointly, both partners will look at acquiring commercial spaces across Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. RMZ has already identified the project and the money is expected to be deployed by March 2014," sources said.
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