Anand Jain plans global realty fund, eyes The World islands project of Dubai
Richard Branson, Michael Schumacher, Rod Stewart, David Beckham, Tommy Lee, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are reported to be part of the project. Loan against property
By Boby Kurian & Bodhisatva Ganguli, TNN |
BANGALORE / NEW DELHI: Anand Jain, a close associate of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, is raising a bulge-bracket real estate fund for investing in overseas assets. The Mauritius-based fund, which will be advised by Jai Corp, a company promoted by Mr Jain, is in talks to make one of its initial investments in The World islands project, a manmade archipelago of Dubai coast promoted by billionaire ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Nakheel Properties, sources said.
The target size of Mr Jain���s planned international realty fund is still under wraps, but it will invest primarily in growth markets stretching from the Arabian Gulf to Far East, sources added. At a later stage, it could invest in other markets. It is believed that the international fund is raising an initial corpus of over $600 million.
Mr Jain���s fund, along with Mumbai-based developers Maker Group, the builders of famous commercial properties in Nariman Point, such as Maker Chambers and Maker Towers, is expected to participate in developing five of the 300 artificial islands that are nearing completion. Each of these islands could cost anywhere between $15-50 million (Rs 60-200 crore) each, and is arguably at the top end of luxury real estate projects currently under way in any part of the world.
The manmade islands resemble the shape of the world map and are located 4 km of the Dubai coast. It is believed that Mr Jain is also in discussions to rope in New York based international architectural design firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) for developing the islands.
The target size of Mr Jain���s planned international realty fund is still under wraps, but it will invest primarily in growth markets stretching from the Arabian Gulf to Far East, sources added. At a later stage, it could invest in other markets. It is believed that the international fund is raising an initial corpus of over $600 million.
Mr Jain���s fund, along with Mumbai-based developers Maker Group, the builders of famous commercial properties in Nariman Point, such as Maker Chambers and Maker Towers, is expected to participate in developing five of the 300 artificial islands that are nearing completion. Each of these islands could cost anywhere between $15-50 million (Rs 60-200 crore) each, and is arguably at the top end of luxury real estate projects currently under way in any part of the world.
The manmade islands resemble the shape of the world map and are located 4 km of the Dubai coast. It is believed that Mr Jain is also in discussions to rope in New York based international architectural design firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) for developing the islands.
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This probably suggests a multi-purpose commercial development of these islands, but once again, there is no independent confirmation on this. KPF is credited with several landmark architectural designs across the world including Glasgow Harbour, Grand Hyatt Tokyo and the Shanghai World Financial Centre
Each of The World islands ranges between 150,000 sqft and 450,000 sqft and are separated by at least 100 metres and surrounded by a 32 km oval breakwater. Unconfirmed world media reports have linked some of the biggest celebrity names like Richard Branson, Michael Schumacher, Rod Stewart, David Beckham, Tommy Lee, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to the project, with a shoreline of about 250 km.
In this context, it may be mentioned that Mr Jain already operates Urban Infrastructure Opportunities Fund (UIOF) which invests in domestic real estate, SEZs and infrastructure. This fund has a corpus of over Rs 5000 crore ($1.25 billion). UIOF is also part of RIL���s mega SEZ projects in Haryana and Navi Mumbai. Development of these SEZs is largely being driven by Mr Jain and RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani. The Haryana SEZ is owned by RIL while the Navi Mumbai project is promoted by Mr Ambani, Mr Jain and their associates.
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