Tata group pegs retail real estate fund at US$ 1 billion
Financial Express - April 30, 2007

The Tata group, which joined hands with private equity firm the Xander group Inc through its group company Trent earlier this month, has firmed up plans to raise $1 billion for an institutional retail real estate fund.

Xander group, through one or more of its fund vehicles, will invest in the development of an institutional retail real estate portfolio in India in partnership with high quality Indian developers.

Trent will have anchor tenancy rights and will participate with Xander in the management of such portfolio and its growth.

The Tata group’s move is in line with other big retail players like the Future group, which controls retail company Pantaloon Retail. The Future group has floated two real estate funds specifically for the retail sector. The Aditya Birla group is also considering floating a real estate fuel its retail growth.

Xander Real Estate Partners, part of the Xander group, has also recently bought a 20% stake in a joint venture between Reliance Industries and the Maker Group, to develop commercial, residential and retail real estate.

Organised retail, which currently accounts for only 3% of the $230 billion (Rs 9,40,000 crore) is expected to grow phenomenally at 45-55 %. This is expected to create a demand for around 220 million square feet of retail space by 2010. Little wonder then, that the Tata group which has been rather aggressive in most of its business will make a big bang entry into the development of such space.

According to industry estimates, the organised retail space currently available is only around 27 million square feet

Another 90 million square feet is expected to be added by 2008 from 263 mall projects of which 18 million square feet each in Delhi and Mumbai, 9.5 million square feet in Ludhiana, 6 million square feet in Chandigarh and 3.6 million square feet in Ahmedabad.

Changi, Tata in airport venture
Business Standard - February 22, 2007

After an aborted tie-up with the Bharti group last year, Singapore’s Changi Airport International (CAI) is floating a joint venture company with Tata Realty & Infrastructure, a subsidiary of the Tata group, to pursue airport modernisation projects in India.

The two partners have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set a joint venture company in which Tata Realty will hold a majority 51 per cent stake and CAI 49 per cent, to invest in, develop and manage Indian airports.

The scope of the venture could include bidding for the impending modernisation and operations of the Chennai and Kolkata airports, India’s third and fifth busiest airports respectively, which the government wants to develop as alternative hubs to Mumbai and Delhi.

The venture could also extend to investments in some of the 35 smaller airports, as well as the proposed Rs 4,235-crore Navi Mumbai airport project.

Though confirming the development, Dinesh Chandiok, chief executive officer, Tata Realty & Infrastructure, declined to give details, saying, “As and when we finalise details, we will announce them.”

Chow Kok Fong, chief executive officer of CAI, said, “When we decided that we wanted to make a serious bid for these projects, it was clear to us that we needed a partner with an organisational culture and business values to which we can easily relate. Tata fulfills all these.”

Sources say the Tatas had been approached for a foray into airport modernisation by many other suitors, including British Airport Authority, which runs Heathrow airport.

For the Tatas, this is the second recent foray in aviation, the first being an abortive tie-up with Singapore Airlines to bid for Air-India, when it was proposed to be privatised. It holds equity in budget carrier SpiceJet.

CAI, which is wholly owned by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, had earlier teamed up with telecom giant Bharti for the Mumbai airport modernisation project but later pulled out citing lack of confidence in meeting tender conditions.

Besides the Tata group, CAI is exploring the option of teaming up with hotel major Leela Group to develop Kannur airport in north Kerala.

While Changi runs the Singapore airport, experts say it has limited experience in running airports in other parts of the globe

Also, Singapore government-owned companies in the aviation space have had a patchy record in India.

Apart from the aborted Singapore Airlines-Tata group tie-up, a proposed ground-handling joint venture involving Singapore Technology Engineering and Singapore Airport Terminal Services and Indian Airlines also came to nothing.

Regarding Chennai and Kolkata airports, the government is expected to make a formal announcement of a privatisation programme. Chennai handled 6.77 million passengers and Kolkata 4.4 million in 2006.

The Navi Mumbai airport is expected to absorb 10 million passengers a year in 2013, its first year of operation, and 40 million passengers a year by 2030.

Though it had withdrawn from the Mumbai airport project, CAI has teamed up with GVK Group, the present developers of the Mumbai airport, to implement a 100-day improvement programme and assist them in reviewing their master plan.

Tata group to set up $1 billion Indian realty and infrastructure fund
INRnews Correspondent - February 19, 2007

Leading Indian industrial group Tata is to set up a new company Tata Realty & Infrastructure with a corpus of $1 billion to invest in real estate in the country. According to news reports, apart from the Tata group, foreign investors too would participate in the fund. Tata Realty will invest in residential and commercial real estate projects, SEZ, and infrastructure projects such as bridges, ports and airports.

Dinesh Chandiok, the former chief executive officer of Ansal Properties, has been roped in to head Tata Realty.