Morgan Stanley names Godbole head of India real estate
Morgan Stanley has appointed investment banking veteran Shirish Godbole as its head of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) India, replacing Naresh Naik who left the firm earlier this month to spin off his own investment fund.
Godbole, who rejoins Morgan Stanley after four years, has most recently been involved in several real estate ventures in India. After starting his career at AEW Capital Management in Boston, Godbole joined Morgan Stanley's securitized products group in New York in 1994. He relocated to London in 2000 as CFO of MSREI Europe, and in 2004, he became co-head of the firm's commercial real estate finance business in Europe.
Godbole has been based in India since 2007, when he departed Morgan Stanley for Goldman Sachs' real estate principal investment group.
Godbole assumes the duties that were previously held by Naik, who confirmed that he is spinning out to launch independent India-focused real estate funds with Robert Naso, managing director and head of Asia Pacific asset management at Morgan Stanley Real Estate. Both have been on gardening leave and plan to establish the fund's headquarters in Singapore. The vehicle will focus on residential and commercial office properties in cities including Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.
Naik had been at Morgan Stanley since 2008, and previously worked at Lehman Brothers India.
Morgan Stanley is said to have invested approximately $750 million in Indian real estate since 2006, and may invest an addition $250 million by the end of the current fiscal year. It has previously purchased stakes property companies such as Oberoi Realty, based in Mumbai, which listed in 2010, and is reportedly among the suitors to purchase real estate in central Mumbai from domestic textile firm Alok Industries for $200 million, competing against the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. among others.
"Real estate investing is an important component of our India platform," P. Jayendra Nayak, CEO and country head of Morgan Stanley India, said in a statement. "Through our real estate investing team, our other investing platforms and through the funds we manage, we will continue to invest in India and partner with successful local growth companies."
More on South Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.