Berggruen Holdings to Invest $300 m in India

Berggruen Holdings is a private company, with interests in private equity, stocks and bonds, hedge funds, art and real estate. Berggruen Holdings is a New York-based fund which manages proprietary capital worth over $1.5 billion, plans to invest over $300 million in India over the next three years in hospitality, real estate, education, construction equipment leasing and logistics businesses. Out of this, a major portion of nearly $200 million would go into real estate projects spread across commercial, residential and retail , while the remaining would be for setting up 40 budget hotels across the country. For its foray into the education business, Berggruen Holdings has partnered with a group of hospitality professionals to offer short and long term specialised programmes through 50 training schools across the country. Apart from the hospitality sector, the education business would also focus on offering specialised training in sectors such as retail, aviation and tutorials. The fund has already made investments worth $60 million in the real estate sector so far. It has recently co-invested in a 125-acre mixed-use property in Mohali, near Chandigarh, and is part of an IT park project in Hyderabad. A typical deal size in the real estate sector is likely to range between $30-50 million. Earlier this year, the fund had announced plans to launch its budget hotel brand in India, Keys, with an investment of around $100 million over a three-year period across 40 sites. The first property is expected to be operational by the year end at Goa. Construction is currently on in three sites, including Trivandrum, Bangalore and Kovalam.