Mumbai-based Altico Capital has invested Rs 120 crore in an affordable housing project being developed by Century Group. The new investment comes as a surprise amidst the ongoing liquidity crisis in NBFC post-default by the IL&FS group.
Century Group is doing plotted development in the project, wherein the plots are priced between Rs 25-50 lakh. The investment has gone into a Century group project ‘Century Greens’ in North Bengaluru, off IVC road near Bengaluru International airport.
This is not the first time that Altico Capital has invested in Century Group’s endeavors. In 2015, it had co-invested Rs 765 crore with Piramal Group in a portfolio of projects.
“We are delighted to partner again with a strong group like Century with whom we have a history of successful exits,” Sanjay Grewal, CEO of Altico Capital told ET Realty. “The new investment is against an ongoing plotting project which fits into our philosophy of investing in affordable and mid-market projects of ticket sizes below INR 50 lakhs.”
Altico Capital is the non-banking finance company promoted by Clearwater Capital (now Fiera Capital), Abu Dhabi Investment Council and Varde Partners. The firm reportedly has also declared that it has recently sanctioned a facility of Rs 450 crore across five transactions thereby underwriting a total saleable area of 6.3 million square feet.
Grewal further added that given the strength of the Bengaluru market, Altico would certainly look to scale up its exposure in this city.
Noteworthy here is followed by a slump, Bengaluru’s residential market witnessed a remarkable comeback in H1 2018. The city has seen new launches of approximately 15,500 units in H1 2018 (11% growth year-on-year) with sales of about 25,800 units in H1 2018 (up 22% year-on-year).