Motilal Oswal Real Estate (MORE), a real estate subsidiary of Motilal Oswal Private Equity (MOPE), has raised over Rs 575 crore. The amount has been raised through the first close of its fourth real estate fund India Realty Excellence Fund IV (IREF IV) and will be deployed in affordable housing projects.
“We have achieved the first close worth Rs 575 crore for the fund within three months of launch,” Sharad Mittal, director & CEO, MORE, told ET. “In this fund, we have also witnessed repeat commitments from many existing investors from our previous funds.”
MORE’s newly raised fund will be used to develop mid-income and affordable residential projects across six top cities in India. Also, some of the capital will also be selectively invested in commercial projects as well.
IREF IV is expected to focus on early-stage structured equity and debt investments with established developers. The fund will also undertake 12-15 transactions with an average size of Rs 80 crore to Rs 150 crore each. The fund, according to Mittal, has a strong pipeline of deals and plans to make its first investment over the next few weeks.
The capital reportedly has been raised from high net worth individuals (HNIs) and family offices. This new MORE’s fund strategy seems to be the extension of two earlier funds, IREF II and IREF III.
Apart from IREF II and IREF III, MORE has invested capital in the real estate sector through portfolio management services (PMS) and proprietary (Prop) investments as well. In fact, MORE has Rs. 2100 crore worth of assets under management, out of which IREF has Rs. 200 crore while IREF II has Rs. 500 crore.
IREF III manages assets worth Rs. 1030 crore and the rest of the assets are under PMS / Prop Investments.
Through its earlier funds, MORE has formed partnerships with various developers over the last four years. In fact, it is known to have made six investments in Chennai’s Casagrand Group, five in Delhi-NCR’s ATS Infrastructure, three in Mumbai’s Rajesh Lifespaces and two in Bangalore’s Shriram Properties.
