New Delhi, April 14 -- Arnya RealEstates Fund Advisors, an investment firm led by former Motilal Oswal Alternates' executive Sharad Mittal, has invested in a residential housing project being developed by Chennai-based company Casagrand.
The real estate investor has signed a Rs 130-crore ($15.1 million) cheque to fund the project in southern Bengaluru.
"This marks our second investment from our maiden high-yield debt fund," said Mittal, the founder and chief executive of Arnya RealEstates Fund Advisors.
The firm rolled out its maiden vehicle, Arnya Real Estate Fund - Debt, in April last year with a target corpus of Rs 1,000 crore and a greenshoe option of an equal amount. In December, VCCircle reported that the fund manager had received commitments of about Rs 500 crore for the fund after marking its first close last September at Rs 375 crore.
The firm closed one transaction after marking its first close where it invested Rs 85 crore in Navi Mumbai-based developer Gami Group. Mittal said at the time that the firm planned to close three to four transactions by March 2025 to take Arnya's deployment to about Rs 250-300 crore.
During the first close announcement in September, Mittal said that the firm's larger plan was to close about 15-20 investments in the next 18 months.
The fund's investment strategy is to predominantly focus on investing in residential real estate, typically mid-income housing during the pre-RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) registration phase, often called the land acquisition stage, with ticket sizes in the range of Rs 60-100 crore. The segment may comprise about 80% of the fund's portfolio.
The fund will also look out for society redevelopment projects in Mumbai, he had said.
Apart from its primary mid-income housing investment strategy, the fund may also explore luxury real estate selectively. Mittal said Arnya is also considering a up to 20% allocation to small office buildings, typically commercial or office real estate used for companies requiring smaller office spaces as compared to the large IT park campuses required in cities such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Arnya was set up in 2023 after Mittal's exit from Motilal Oswal Real Estate following more than a decade-long stint as the chief executive of the Mumbai-based private equity investor.
The Arnya team's expansion started in December 2023 with the appointment of Amit Dassani and Nikunj Pugalia, VCCircle first reported. Pugalia, a chartered accountant by qualification, is also a former Motilal Oswal Financial Services executive and spent over a decade at the company. His previous stint was at Neo Wealth and Asset Management where he was working as deputy CFO.
Dassani has an experience of over 18 years in wealth management for ultra-HNIs and family offices. Prior to joining Arnya, he was executive director - private clients at LGT Wealth India. He has also been a part of IIFL Wealth.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.