By Daxim Lucas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE CONGLOMERATE Ayala Corp. and its real estate arm said they hade entered into a joint venture with India’s Mahindra Group to develop an exclusive residential community in one of the subcontinent’s major cities.
In a statement to the stock exchange, Ayala Corp. and Ayala Land Inc. said the deal involved development of a high-end housing enclave in the 1,500-acre Mahindra World City (MWC) in Chennai, India.
The joint venture, Mahindra Residential Developers Ltd., will be 51-percent owned by the Mahindra Group and 49 percent by ARCH Capital Asian Partners L.P., a private real estate fund managed by Ayala affiliate ARCH Capital Management Co. Ltd.
The project will be on about 55 acres of land in the MWC special economic zone, which is designated for low-density residential community development, Ayala Land said in a statement.
The exclusive community of about 750 residential units will be planned and designed by international planners and architects with amenities, development standards and an urban environment not commonly found in India, Ayala Land said.
The joint venture through ARCH Capital represents Ayala’s first major foray into the Indian real estate market, Ayala Land chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala said in the statement. “We continue to see good growth prospects in India and we are delighted to have the opportunity to participate in this momentum through our partnership with the Mahindra Group.”
Ayala Corp. and Ayala Land did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
Zobel said the Ayala group’s newly established regional property investment firm, Fidelis Holdings, had been “actively exploring opportunities to expand [its] international activities in this arena.”
MWC, a pioneering effort of Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd., the publicly listed real estate and infrastructure arm of the Mahindra Group, reflects Mahindra’s vision for a world-class special economic zone catering to investors and manufacturers in automotive accessories, information technology and apparel industries.
Ayala Land president Jaime Ayala (no relation to the Zobel de Ayala family) meanwhile said Ayala Land expected to report strong sales in the first quarter despite a market slowdown caused by the US subprime mortgage crisis.
He said Ayala Land was refocusing its selling efforts for the US market—a major source of sales last year—from high-end property units to more affordable housing in view of an expected drop in spending power of US-based Filipinos. With editing by INQUIRER.net
