DHFL and Redwood team up to raise $200m Indian warehousing fund

DHFL Venture Capital and Redwood Group have formed a joint venture to raise a private equity fund to invest in logistics-driven warehousing, Arun Goel, chief executive officer of DHFL Venture Capital, said in an interview.

While the fund is a long term business plan and not dependent on a single fundraising, it could raise about $200 million globally, Goel said.

The joint venture will leverage Redwood’s global client relations and expertise in development and leasing as well as DHFL’s Venture Capital’s local access and team, according to a statement from the firm. It will also partner with local and regional developers.

The partnership reportedly aims to raise between $150 million and $200 million from overseas investors and between INR1.5 billion ($31 million; €22 million) and INR2 billion from domestic investors, India’s Business Standard reported.

The fund will be scaled up to INR30 billion ($627 million; €436 million) in three to five years, Kapil Wadhawan, a chairman and managing director at DHFL, told Indian daily Livemint.

The vehicle is the latest tie-up between Indina and overseas firms in terms of private equity fundraising.

Last month, another Indian company teamed up with foreign firms to raise a private equity fund. UTI Aseet Management Company, one of India’s largest asset management companies, Germany’s HSH Nordbank and Kuwait’s Noor Financial Investment Company are in partnership to raise $500 million for the India Infrastructure Development Fund. The fund will primarily raise capital from overseas to invest in India’s infrastructure services sector.

DHFL Venture Capital is currently managing Dream Fund 1, a private equity real estate fund launched in 2006. The firm is owned by Dewan Housing Finance Corporation, India’s second largest private housing finance company.

The Redwood Group is an Asia- and Europe-focused real estate investment firm. In India, the firm plans to develop logistic parks in cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Pune. It expects to launch two park projects in the country by the third or fourth quarter of 2009. The firm has offices in Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai, Barcelona, Luxembourg, London and Moscow.