Milestone Capital exits Mumbai project with 2.3 times returns

Exits Neptune group's Swarajya project in Kalyan with Rs 280 crore

Mumbai-based real estate fund manager Milestone Capital has exited its investment in affordable housing project in Ambivali in Mumbai Metropolitan Region with 2.3 times returns.

Milestone exited with Rs 280 crore in Neptune group’s Swarajya project, in which it had invested Rs 120 crore in May 2011 through Milestone Domestic Fund II & Milestone Fund LLC. The project was exited at 20 per cent gross internal rate of return (IRR). Financial services company Edelweiss has refinanced the Neptune to the tune of Rs 185 crore.

Rubi Arya, executive vice-chairman of Milestone Capital Advisors, said: "While we spotted the investment opportunity, the affordable housing segment has gained momentum in the past few years and this is just a starting stage in India. We expect a huge demand from the growing middle-income group for such projects and we stay committed to investing in these projects for the betterment of all our stakeholders and society at large.”

Recently, Milestone made an exit from a commercial property in Bengaluru's Electronic City phase I at Rs 150 crore, fetching 16 per cent gross internal rate of return.

"Out of the total Rs 3,000 crore returned till date, we have returned approximately Rs 2,000 crore back to our investors in the past 20 months itself," she said.

Milestone is looking to raise a Rs 1,000-crore domestic fund to invest in pre-leased office assets and a managed account of $200 million from offshore investors.

Arya also said the fund manager has lined up three investments in Mumbai and Bengaluru totalling up to Rs 200 crore from its new fund Milestone Opportunities Fund 10.