Friday, December 28, 2007

Who will be India’s REITmeister..?

So, who will be India’s Sam Zell? Any guesses…?

SEBI has recently nodded in favor of setting up REITs in India. The much-awaited Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which would invest directly in real estate projects after collecting funds from investors through the stock exchanges, are set to see their entry in Indian markets with SEBI putting out draft rules for such trusts. The conditions include –

What interests me most is that even though FDI in real estate is still a much debated issue, Private Equity firms will get an easier exit route. Private equity comes at the beginning and it takes 5 to 7 years for the projects to get ready. Since FDI is not allowed in finished projects, REITs will provide them a platform to exit. When we reckon that over $6 billion have been invested by PE funds in Indian realty companies, entry of REITs are most welcome – for the fund managers….:)
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