India's Wadhawan Group to set up PE funds
Wadhawan Group, a conglomerate controlled by the Wadhawan family which also runs housing finance company DHFL, plans to launch multiple private equity funds to expand its financial services operations.
The funds will be launched under ArthVeda Fund Management, which was earlier known as DHFL Venture Capital. "The plan is to have INR50 billion ($996 million) of assets under management in the next five years," Kapil Wadhawan, chairman of Wadhawan Holdings, told The Business Standard.
The group established its first INR2.5 billion real estate private equity vehicle in 2006, namely DHFL Real Estate Asset Management Fund. The fund invested in property projects in tier-two and tier-three cities. Last December, ArthVeda also launched the ArthVeda Star Fund, a INR2 billion vehicle that invests in greenfield middle income housing projects across 16 cities.
Wadhawan is also planning to set up nine four- and five-star hotels, with an investment budget of INR10 billion in the coming five years. Up to 70% of the total outlay will be funded through debt and the group has already tied up with hospitality chain Minor International to run its potential hotels.
"We will launch them slowly at an appropriate time," Wadhawan said, who added the first of its two hotels in Mysore and Pune, will be running in the next two quarters.
While India is seeing more visits from business and leisure travelers, about 15 companies are reportedly planning to set up a total of 600 hotels across the country.
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