Raghuvir Badrinath / Chennai/ Bangalore Jul 30, 2009, 00:54 IST
Century Group, which has a land bank of 2,000 acres of prime property in and around Bangalore, is raising a debt of Rs 800 crore to complete several of its ongoing projects. While Rs 200 crore is being raised at the enterprise level, another Rs 600 crore is being raised at a Special Purpose Vehicle level for a hospitality project in which Canada-based Four Seasons is expected to manage the hotel.
Industry sources indicate that Century has resorted to debt as a plan to raise private equity is getting delayed owing to economic crisis. Century Group was expected to mop up around $200 million from Goldman Sachs-led consortium which is understood to be put on hold. Century Group had earlier raised $300 million from Goldman and Fortress Group. The company, better known in the real estate market as a large scale land bank owner, is aggressively looking to develop 5 million square feet of commercial and residential property over the next three years. Investment banking sources indicate that while the Rs 800 crore debt is being raised primarily through public sector banks.
Century Group’s land bank value is estimated to be valued at Rs 8,000 crore and the company is expected to add a further 2,000 acres of land bank going forward. According to industry sources, construction is underway for 3 million square feet of commercial and residential properties and development of an additional 2 million square feet is expected to be finalised shortly.
In the while, the group is all set to launch its value housing project on eight acres in Raja Rajeshwari Nagar just off on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. The company is aiming to build a total of 800 flats of 2 and 3 bedroom flats in the Rs 25-30 lakh range in the area which is within the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) jurisdiction. For starters, Century is set to launch two towers of 200 apartments which is expected to completed in two years time.
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