Värde Partners, New Vernon's Rs 1,000-cr realty deal hits approval wall

New Vernon's investment panel casts a cloud over Värde's earlier investments

Minneapolis-based fund manager Värde Partners’ plans to acquire the commercial properties of New Vernon Capital in Gurugram and Noida have hit a roadblock due to the former not getting necessary approvals from its investment committee, said sources in the know.

“The investment committee did not approve of the investments since some of the previous investments of Värde in India are not performing very well,” added sources.

The deal was expected to be worth more than Rs 1,000 crore, with the complex in Gurugram’s Udyog Vihar alone costing Rs 600-700 crore, informed sources.

Both properties have a total area of 1 million square feet; 90 per cent of them are occupied. New Vernon was looking to exit both properties.

When contacted, Värde declined to comment till the time of going to press. New Vernon could not be reached for a statement.

Recently, separate deal talks between Embassy Industrial Parks, IndoSpace, and ESR fell through due to difference in valuations. Embassy was looking to sell its logistics business for a valuation of Rs 2,000 crore.

Värde was one of the key investors in the troubled non-banking financial company Altico Capital India.

 

Altico Capital India in July this year fielded an application with the Reserve Bank of India to transfer the ownership from existing investors — Clearwater Capital Partners, Värde, and Abu Dhabi Investment Council — to Hong Kong-based SSG Capital Advisors, LLC.

Recently, Värde gave a loan of $135 million to a South India-based real estate firm.

Earlier this year, Värde bought out Lodha Excelus from Lodha Group in the Wadala area of Mumbai.

In 2018, Aditya Birla Capital and Värde announced an exclusive strategic partnership to pursue investments in stressed and distressed assets in the country.

Värde invests in real estate assets, loans, and operates companies globally. The firm opened its office in Mumbai in 2018 and has since invested over $1 billion in the country.

In one of the largest commercial property deals in the country last year, Xander Investment Management, the private equity (PE) real estate of global investment firm The Xander Group Inc., has bought an office property in Pune from another PE firm New Vernon for Rs 900 crore ($130 million).

VÄRDE’S INDIA BOOK

• Värde was one of the key investors in the troubled non-banking financial company Altico Capital India
• Recently, Värde gave a loan of $135 million to a South India-based real estate firm
• Earlier this year, Värde bought out Lodha Excelus from Lodha Group in the Wadala area of Mumbai
• In 2018, Aditya Birla Capital and Värde formed a JV to pursue investments in stressed and distressed assets
• The firm opened its office in Mumbai in 2018 and has since invested over $1 billion in the country