Motilal Oswal Real Estate exits two investments in Bengaluru

Mumbai: Motilal Oswal Real Estate today said its second realty fund has exited investments in two projects in Bengaluru for an undisclosed amount.
With this, the companys second realty fund India Realty Excellence Fund II (IREF II) of Rs 500 crore has now completed six full exits out of the total 14 investments at an average return of 25.7 per cent, it said in a statement issued here.
IREF II achieved its final close in April 2015 at Rs 500 crore and has till date made 14 investments amounting to Rs 670 crore (including re-investments).
Within 2.5 years of its final close, the fund has divested 108 per cent of the fund size and returned 64 per cent of the money back to the investors, the company said.
The two recent exits have been from investments with Skylark Mansions and Mahaveer Developers in Bengaluru.
“The last three-four years have been tough for the realty sector with developers battling low sales velocity and
low consumer confidence,” companys director and head of real estate funds, Sharad Mittal, said.
“However, our strategy of partnering with dominant players in each micro-market and focusing on mid-income housing projects has played out well for us,” he said.
India Realty Excellence Fund III (IREF III), the third real estate fund by the firm which achieved its final close in August this year at Rs 1,031 crore, is currently in investment phase and has committed more than 80 per cent of the capital.
Structural changes in the form of Real Estate Regulation Authority (RERA) and Goods and Services Tax (GST) have been introduced in the sector in the past year leading to an increased compliance on the part of developers, Mittal said.
“Consolidation is already being witnessed in the industry post these changes and the industry shall gradually progress towards broader institutional ownership and we believe that our kind of capital shall become much more suited to developers going forward,” he added.
PTI