The Aditya Birla Group has launched a real estate fund with plans to raise up to $500 million. Aditya Birla India Real Estate Vision Fund will be raised through Mauritius-based entity Cantor and advised by the group's asset management arm Birla Sun Life Asset Management.
It has a target corpus of $350 million with a green shoe option to raise an additional $150 million. The fund plans to make its first close by January and already has a commitment of $20 million from Sun Life, an official from the fund told VCCircle.
Aditya Birla Financial Services Singapore is the sponsor of the fund. The final investment by the group will depend upon the overall commitments gathered by Aditya Birla India Real Estate Vision Fund, which has a tenor of six years.
The fund plans to make investments in unlisted real estate firms through equity, equity-related and debt instruments. Aditya Birla India Real Estate Vision Fund plans to focus on residential projects. It will mainly look at deals at special purpose vehicles (SPV) or project level, but may also look at investments at an enterprise level in privately held companies, said the official.
Nishith Desai Associates is advising on the fund formation.
The Aditya Birla group also has a private equity arm, Aditya Birla Capital Advisors, which is raising a $250 million mid-market focused fund. This fund has already managed to raise over $100 million from domestic investors.