Century Real Estate Secures Rs.450 crore as Debt from Edelweiss to foster growth

One of the listed realty firms of Bengaluru Century Real Estate Holdings Pvt Ltd has declared that they have bagged Rs.450 crore of debt financing from Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors Limited, the asset management arm of financial services firm Edelweiss Group.

Century Real estate has decided to utilize around 40% of the funds to buy a 72-acre land parcel for a plotted residential project near the international airport at Devanahalli in north Bengaluru. It will be using  the rest of the money to repay existing debt and as working capital for new and existing projects. Century Real Estate, one of the largest landowners in Bengaluru, is specifically targeting on the north of the city where it has a significant land bank. 

In a media interview, Ravindra Pai, the managing director of Century Real Estate, said, “Bengaluru’s residential market has been robust post-covid. In FY24 we achieved a sales milestone of Rs.1,000 crore. We aim to double sales to Rs.2,000 crore in FY25. We have a significant pipeline of inventory, including residential and plotted projects."

According to the view point of property consultants the debt transactions in housing projects have increased lately because of sales momentum in the residential sector and the consequent need for working capital. A number of private equity and real estate credit funds such as Nisus Finance, PAG Asia, ASK Property Fund, HDFC Capital among others have been active in the residential space.

Recently, Prestige Group has informed  that, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Kotak AIF would invest Rs.2,001 crore in its four residential projects in a quasi-debt deal, and Nisus Finance, with its sponsor and strategic partner BCD Group, invested Rs.105 crore in a subsidiary of Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate.

Piyush Gupta, the managing director, capital markets & investment services, at property advisory Colliers India, explained saying, “Domestic investors are increasingly gaining ground in real estate. It is evident in the whopping 45% share in investments during January-March 2024, a marked surge from prior years. Within domestic institutional investments, office and residential assets comprised about 66%. This also underscores the growing confidence of a diversified spectrum of investors across multiple investment strategies including credit and acquisitions."

By now, Century Real Estate has completed around 20 residential and plotted development projects, five commercial real estate projects and has four more in the pipeline, and working on 2.5 million sq ft office project in north Bengaluru.