Pinnacle

DEUTSCHE IN EMAAR-MGF
Gaurie Mishra & Mayur Shekhar Jha, New Delhi, February 5, 2007
The Economic Times


Deutsche Bank’s real estate arm is in an advanced stage of discussions with real estate major Emaar-MGF to invest around $200 million in the company. If the transaction goes through, it could possibly be the biggest deal in the real estate sector in India. So far, the largest private equity transaction in the realty space has been Morgan Stanley Real Estate fund’s $125 million investment in Mumbai-based Oberoi Constructions.

Deutsche Bank’s investment will be done through its New York-based real estate arm — RREEF. It is one of the biggest real estate investors in the world with over $65 billion in assets under management. As the transaction is expected to be a quasi-equity deal, the stake Emaar-MGF will dilute is not known. RREEF will hold convertible debentures in the company. “We are looking to raise equity in the company and are currently in advanced stages of discussions with several players including RREEF. At this point we cannot disclose any more details as the deal is still not closed. The final decision will be made over the next few weeks,” a source in Emaar-MGF said.

RREEF currently has seven separate funds around the world which make investments in real estate and infrastructure. It provides services in fund management, investment management, asset management, property management, leasing, research, construction and development.

Last year, Citigroup and New York Life Insurance had picked around 2 percent equity in Emaar-MGF Land for a consideration of $100 million. Evolvence India Fund had recently invested $41 million in Emaar MGF