Creador PE's affliate invests Rs 100 crore in Ashiana Housing Limited

This will be 5th investment for Creador in India

Idria Limited, an affiliate of Creador II LLC, has invested Rs 100 crore ($16.2 million) in public-listed Ashiana Housing Limited (Ashiana). The real estate firm is focussed on developing the mid-income housing segment in north India.

While industry sources said the fund would get around five per cent stake in the company, Anand Narayan, senior managing director of Creador Advisors India Private Limited, which is an adviser to Creador Fund, refused to share how much stake the fund is picking up in the company.

This will be the 14th investment (fifth in India) for Creador, a private equity firm focused on long-term investments in growth-oriented businesses in Southeast Asia and India.

Narayan said the fund looked at the focus markets, segment, track record of the management, growth in the segment in which the company operates when it decided to invest.

Ashiana is focused on Tier II and III cities and its target segment is Rs 20-50 lakh. When the housing sector saw a dip, the affordable housing segment did not take a hit and reported a growth, he said.

The net debt-free company is focused mainly in Delhi (NCR), Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Jharkhand

The company reported a growth of 33 per cent CAGR in area booked between fiscal years 2010 and 2014.  It has 13 ongoing projects with a saleable area of 6.4 million square feet, scheduled for delivery in the next 2-3 years, and plans to develop another 15 projects with saleable area of 8.4 million square feet by 2020.