Milestone to invest Rs 160 cr in residential projects

Milestone Capital Advisors, the private equity firm with focus on real estate investments, is set to close two deals worth Rs 160 crore. The firm which is in final stages of negotiations with real estate developers in Mumbai and Delhi will buy minority stake in two residential projects by this month.

The investment will be made through its third fund, Milestone Domestic Scheme III, a Rs 500-crore domestic fund, which will be deployed fully in real estate projects in metros. Milestone, which is in fund-raising process, has raised about Rs 160 crore for the third fund so far. It is learnt that Milestone is close to make another big ticket investment from their fund jointly set up with IL&FS. Among one of the top deals in last year, IL&FS Milestone Realty Advisors Ltd, had picked up 74 per cent stake in 247 HCC Park, a 1.8-million square feet commercial property located in Vikhroli in Mumbai for $122 million.

When contacted, Ved Prakash Arya, managing director, Milestone Capital Advisors, confirmed the development. “We will make two major investments ranging between Rs 80-100 crore in residential projects soon.” He refused to disclose further.

The year 2011 witnessed two PE deals in real estate so far as Warburg Pincus invested $50 million through a JV in Lemon Tree Hotels and Sun Apollo invested $22 million in Parsvnath Buildwell.