Acquisition

19 Mar 2007 07:01

Trinity Capital PLC19 March 2007 19 March 2007 Trinity Capital PLC ("Trinity") £17 million investment in commercial development project, Mumbai Trinity Capital PLC is very pleased to announce that it has entered into apartnership with Dynamix-Balwas Group to develop commercial office space in oneof Mumbai's Secondary Business Districts ('SBDs'). Under the terms of theagreement, Trinity will invest £11.68 million plus £5.8 million of mezzaninefinance in return for a 28.99% stake in the development. Moving forward, thepartners are committed to mobilizing an additional £17.4 million of mezzaninefinance for the project. Trinity and IL&FS Investment Managers ('IL&FS') havejointly invested in this project. SBDs are rapidly gaining prominence as commercial centers of Mumbai. In the past5 years, a number of large domestic and international corporations haverelocated their operations to the SBDs. This development project proposes tobuild a group of six commercial buildings of approximately 100,000 sq ft each,generating a total of about 600,000 sq ft of office space. Reflecting increaseddemand, rental values in SBDs in Mumbai have touched Rs 250 per sq ft in someareas which exceeds those in Nariman Point, the traditional central businessdistrict (200 Rs per sq ft). Estimated IRR will meet or exceed the 25%investment criteria as set out at the time of the IPO. In recent years, SBDs in Mumbai have seen considerable fresh commercialdevelopment to ease the concentration of commercial activities in South Mumbai.The offices offer easy accessibility and high quality amenities for bothemployers and employees. There are also plans to redevelop areas in thevicinity of the project site that will release approximately 50 million sq ft ofsaleable residential area accounting for 10% of the new housing stock plannedfor Mumbai. These developments will have a positive effect on the value ofcommercial real estate in the area. In the nearby area of central-westernMumbai, the capital value of commercial real estate has touched Rs 32,000 per sqft. Dynamix-Balwas Group is a well established and successful Mumbai based developerand has developed in excess of 10 million sq ft of real estate in the form oftownship projects, residential complexes and shopping malls in and aroundMumbai. This is Trinity's second project with Dynamix-Balwas Group. InDecember 2006 Trinity announced that it would invest £11.34 million in a specialpurpose vehicle, which currently owns one 5 star Indian hotel and has acquiredland to develop a further three luxury hotels over the next three years.Dynamix-Balwas Group owns the operating hotel, Le Royal Meridian in Mumbai. Aashish Kalra, Managing Director of Trikona Capital, said: "This is anexcellent opportunity for Trikona to participate in the revitalization ofMumbai. The project is ideally located in one of the prime SBDs of Mumbai. Withlittle or no new land or office space available in the central business districtmany corporations have relocated to the SBDs of Mumbai which are characterizedby superior infrastructure and newer construction. This deal also demonstratesthe continuing success of our partnership with IL&FS. The joint ventureestablished in August 2006 is one of India's largest real estate investmentplatforms, and as such, is able to attract high quality developmentopportunities and development partners as demonstrated by this announcement." ENDS Enquiries: Trikona Capital Aashish Kalra +91 11 2620 7257Cardew Group Tim Robertson +44 20 7930 0777 Catherine MaitlandGutenberg Communications Harjiv Singh (New York) +1 212 209 3863 Pranav Kumar (Delhi) +91 98100 77898Numis Iain McDonald +44 20 7776 1567 Notes: • For further information and regular updates regarding the Fund'sactivities, please log on and sign up for news alerts at www.trinityplc.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange