VGN Developers to invest Rs 1800 cr in new projects

Chennai-based real estate company VGN Developers Pvt Ltd is looking at an investment of around Rs 1,800 crore in the next two years, for land acquisition and development projects. The company is also in talks with some of the major international private equity players to bring in project-level investment, said a senior company official.

VGN, which recently announced the launch of a 20-acre residential project with around 1,166 apartments on city outskirts, has around six projects, including two high-end projects, in the pipeline, said Pratish Devadoss, managing director, VGN Developers.

Of the total investment, around Rs 900 crore would be from equity while the rest would be from debt. However, the company would also look at private equity funding at the project level to control the debt, he added.

“We are in talks with a couple of the top international players. We are interested only in project-level funding in the future four to five projects, and if everything goes fine, we may finalise the financial aspects of the deal in 10-15 days,” said Devadoss.

The company is planning a 200-unit high-end apartment project on 2.5 acres at East Coast Road and a 15-20- unit apartment in Nungambakkam, in the city. Another four projects are in the pipeline and is expected to come up with an average of 1,500-2,000 apartments each on 20-40 acres, in the immediate suburbs of Chennai.

“We are expecting a project value of Rs 2,350 crore from these in the near future,” he added. The company has so far completed 10 residential projects and finished another 30-40 residential layouts.

The Rs 400-crore VGN Group would look at a qualified institutional placement to raise funds when it reaches Rs 700-750 crore revenues. However, he refused to reveal more on the plan.

The recently announced residential project at Thirumullaivoyal, on the outskirts of Chennai, is expected to come up with an investment of around Rs 450 crore and an expected project value of around Rs 700 crore.