varun

Real estate developer Uppal Housing Ltd said it will in vest about Rs1,500 crore by March to expand its operations outside the Capital and its suburbs. The company is also considering a share sale in the near future. Uppal, primarily a Delhi based developer, plans to expand into Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and tier II or smaller cities such as Chandigarh.

Real estate developers such as DLF Ltd, Unitech Ltd, and Parsvnath Developers Ltd are increasingly expanding their presence outside Delhi and its suburbs as real estate demand slows down in Delhi and its suburbs such as Gurgaon and Noida as real estate demand slows down in these areas. Uppal plans to raise funds for its expansion through internal accruals and project level private equity investments. Uppal is also looking at an initial public offer.

The company is bringing in shareholders in project-specific special purpose vehicles. In June this year, Uppal which had formed a special purpose vehicle with Luxor Group for the development of a 67-acre special economic zone (SEZ) in Gurgaon diluted its stake in the SPV to Trinity Capital, a US-based boutique investment banking firm, for over Rs 300 crore.

The company is now in talks with foreign investors to jointly develop its multiservice SEZ at Gurgaon. The 263-acre zone will require an investment over Rs5,000 crore in five years. Uppal has received approvals for both the SEZs. Work on the multiservice zone will start in December. Uppal will be developing three more SEZs. Land acquisition for the zones has been completed. Uppal also plans to expand its hospitality and retail business by building five more hotels and three malls in Delhi and its suburbs.

News Source: Live Mint

Rashmi

Delhi based real estate developer Uppal Group plans to start six five-star-category hotels by 2010, investing around Rs 1,500 crore.

The group is in talks with private equity players to raise funds. The budget segment too has caught attention of the group. To foray into budget category of hotels, Uppal Group will be setting up a subsidiary company which will open budget hotels in tier two and tier three cities. This subsidiary company will start in next six months.

Uppal Group, which owns Uppal Orchid hotel in Delhi, has two five star properties under construction — a 13-acre property in Gurgaon which will be managed by the Oberoi Group and a 165-room hotel in Chandigarh to be managed by the J W Marriott Hotels & Resorts.

While it is investing Rs 275 crore (excluding real estate cost) in the Gurgaon property, the investment for the hotel in Chandigarh is to the tune of Rs 280 crore (including land price). They are actively looking for properties at Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Goa and Shimla as well to open new hotels. The group will be tying up with hospitality brands to manage new properties.

Source: Economic Times