Yatra to raise fresh capital of Rs840 cr

Euronext NA-listed Yatra Capital, an India-focused real estate fund, is planning to raise a fresh capital of €150 million (Rs840 crore).This will be Yatra’s second fund. The first fund of €100 million was raised in December 2006. The new fund offer opened on Tuesday and is expected to close over the next three weeks, said Yatra’s founder and managing director, Ajoy Kapoor. The offer consists of a public offering in the Netherlands and a private placement with institutional investors. Since raising its initial capital, Yatra has committed to or acquired investments totalling €88.4 million, mostly in tier-II cities such as Pune. It also has €77.46 million euros of investments in the works.

ABN AMRO Rothschild and Fairfax IS Plc. are the joint global coordinators and joint book-runners to the issue. Yatra has so far invested in 10 properties in tier-II and III cities and is looking for opportunities in major metros. It also is evaluating opportunities in smaller tier-IV towns.

Read more in The Live Mint article.

Yatra invests Rs 38 crore in Modi Build-Well

Euronext-listed Yatra Capital will invest ¤6.75 million (nearly Rs 37.86 crore) in a joint venture (JV) with Ahmedabad-based Modi Build-Well. The JV will develop a 5.90 lakh sq feet shopping mall in Bhavnagar. Modi Build-Well (MBL) is a subsidiary of the Himalaya Group based in Ahmedabad.

Approximately 30 per cent of the shopping mall has already been pre-leased to leading retail brands including Pantaloons, Globus, Big Bazaar and Adlabs, a release from the company said.

The current investment is fifth among the company’s Indian investments with other being investment in properties in Pune, Nasik and others. Following this, Yatra has invested euro79.32 million of the euro100 million that it raised in December 2006.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

London firms keen on CSE revival

The financial services companies in the UK are keen on participating in the revival of the Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE), the Lord Mayor of London A J Stuttard said.

The involvement of the companies can only be possible with regulatory permissions and a strong “political will” on the part of the local government. The revival of the exchange is essential to develop the region as a financial services centre, the Lord Mayor said.

London has proved itself as a financial services centre by setting up a separate Finance Services Authority, independent of government control, to develop the city in line with modern requirements.

The city houses the London Stock Exchange (LSE), London Metal Exchange (LME), the Euronext derivatives platform and Baltic Exchange apart from being a base for large financial services companies. According to established data, 3,500 trillion pounds are managed from UK.

Read more in The Business Standard article.