By Raghavendra Kamath
A host of global investors are looking to open India offices in Mumbai as they expand their operations in the country.
Investors such as Oaktree Capital and Gaw Capital are joining the league of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Apollo Global Management, which opened offices in the country’s financial capital recently.
US-based global asset management firm Oaktree Capital,which is operating from Singapore for India investments, is looking to open an office in Mumbai, said sources in the know, adding that the investor is most likely to choose the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) for its office.
Oaktree, which has assets of $163 billion under management, has over 20 offices globally including in Dubai, Hong Kong and Beijing.
Oaktree has done several big deals in the Indian market.
It acquired wholesale real estate finance loans from DHFL in 2019 for Rs 1,350 crore. It also financed Rs 2,200 crore to Indiabulls Housing Finance, wherein the latter pledged its real estate loans.
It also bid for mortgage lender DHFL, which was finally acquired by the Piramal Group.
Oaktree has taken some major bets in Indian real estate too.
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Oaktree Capital last year invested Rs 425 crore in a luxury residential project in central Mumbai. Before that, Gurugram developer M3M India raised Rs 570 crore from Oaktree through non-convertible debentures across two tranches.
“Since they have taken bigger bets in India, they felt its essential to source deals and manage their investments directly from here,” said a source in the know.
When contacted, Oaktree declined to comment on the subject.
Similarly, global real estate-focused private equity fund manager Gaw Capital Partners is also looking to open an office in Mumbai, sources said. It recently announced the appointment of Nitin Gupta as managing director and India head.
Gaw Capital has raised seven funds targeting the Greater China and APAC regions since 2005. The firm also manages value-add/opportunistic funds in the US, a pan-Asia hospitality fund, a European hospitality fund, a growth equity fund and provides services for credit investments.
Since 2005, Gaw Capital has commanded assets of $35.2 billion under management as of Q1 2022.
Gupta did not comment on the office-opening plans in Mumbai.
Recently, US-based investor Apollo Global Management and Canadian pension fund manager Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan set up new offices in Mumbai.
Apollo Global, which has assets under management of $523 billion, last month relocated its support office from Powai in Mumbai to a much larger office in NESCO IT Park in the Goregaon suburb of Mumbai.
The NESCO office is its second largest office globally and its ninth office in Asia-Pacific. Apollo has offices in Gurugram and the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai.
Apollo has done deals of over $1.2 billion, according to Venture Intelligence, which tracks PE/VC deals.
Apollo did not respond to a mail on the subject.
“The relocation of Apollo’s India operations from the firm’s prior office space in Powai reflects Apollo’s desire to scale in India across all business lines, “the US-based investor said while opening the office.
The new office is spread over 88,000 square feet over three contiguous floors, with a fourth floor expected to open in 2023.
Apollo recently reimaged its office spaces in New York, Hong Kong and London.
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), another global investor with over C$242.5 billion (Rs 14.85 trillion), recently opened its India office in financial hub of BKC.
It is OTPP’s sixth global office and the third in the Asia-Pacific region.
OTPP holds a portfolio of public and private assets totalling more than C$3 billion (Rs 18,374 crore) in India.
OTPP’s peers such as CPP Investments have already set up offices in BKC’s Maker Maxity, which houses the likes of Singapore’s GIC and others.
“India is a strategically important investment destination which we believe will be one of our growth markets in the next decade. We wanted to fully establish our Singapore base in Southeast Asia before foraying in India and took our time to study the market while we also had some active investments in that period. We value having on ground presence – as it’s a relationship business – you need to be able to build relationships with the right partners and for the long term,” a OTPP spokesperson said .
Shobhit Agarwal , managing director of Anarock Capital, said it is indeed a re-affirmation of the positive outlook for the nation when such investors choose to actively participate and script the growth story, in anticipation of favourable returns and a safe and assured return for their stakeholders.
“India is among the fastest growing economies in the world and has displaced the UK to achieve the coveted title of the fifth largest economy. Despite the global headwinds, the projected growth rate of India is 6.8% in 2022 as per the IMF, which is better than China, the US and Japan,” he said.
Agarwal said the presence of such investment giants in Mumbai also bodes well for the commercial office market, as it triggers demand for office spaces. “Mumbai also has significant stock of Grade A commercial offices at rents, which are at a fraction of other cities like New York, London, Singapore or Tokyo. The prevailing Grade A office rentals in Mumbai are estimated at $ 1.5 per sq ft per month, which is significantly lower than $ 11 per sq ft per month in London,” he said.
