Affordable housing developer Signature Global (India) Pvt. Ltd has hired investment bankers to raise around Rs 1,000 crore through a public listing, said two people aware of the development.
Signature Global—backed by KKR & Co. and HDFC Capital—has appointed Axis Capital, ICICI Securities and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company to advise on the share sale, one of the people said requesting anonymity.
Existing investors of Signature Global including the World Bank’s investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC), KKR and HDFC Capital may also pare their holdings through the share sale, the second person said.
Signature Global, Kotak and Axis Capital did not respond to queries. Emails to IFC, HDFC Capital and KKR, too, did not elicit a response till press time, while ICICI Securities said, “We won’t be offering any comments to your queries”.
The Gurugram-based property developer has, over the past few years, raised funding from IFC, HDFC Capital, ICICI Prudential’s real estate fund and New York-based private equity giant KKR. In 2019, IFC had proposed to finance an affordable housing project of Signature Global.
The company has raised funding from several financial institutions in the past. In 2017, KKR’s non-bank lending arm invested Rs 200 crore in some projects of Signature Global. The same year, HDFC Capital invested $38.76 million (around Rs 250 crore) in some projects of Signature Global. Prior to these investments, Signature Global had raised funding of Rs 150 crore from ICICI Prudential. Debt-ridden Altico Capital, now owned by Ares SSG Capital, had also invested an undisclosed amount in Signature Global.
Set up in 2014, Signature Global has a presence across both commercial and residential segments. It develops affordable housing projects across Gurugram, Karnal and Ghaziabad. The company is promoted by Pradeep Aggarwal, Ravi Aggarwal, Lalit Aggarwal and Devender Aggarwal.
Signature Global is also one of the key stakeholders of financial investment firm SMC Group. It forayed into the real estate domain through its subsidiaries Signature Builders Pvt. Ltd, Signature Global Developers Pvt. Ltd, Sarvpriya Securities Pvt. Ltd, JMK Holdings Pvt. Ltd, Forever Buidtech Pvt. Ltd and Sternal Buildcon Pvt. Ltd.
The company has launched 28 projects so far with its latest being the ‘Millennia IV Project’ under the Haryana government’s affordable housing policy. The residential projects include multi-storey apartments while commercial space includes retail.
Source – livemint.com
