Lenskart changes status to public company in preparation for $1 billion IPO
Synopsis
The Gurugram-based omnichannel eyewear brand Lenskart closed a $200 million secondary round in June 2024 at a $5 billion valuation. Singapore's sovereign fund Temasek and US financial services giant Fidelity had participated in the round. The company is expecting a 10 billion valuation for its IPO, double it last funding round.
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Business Standard
20 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Non-Mumbai builders tap into financial capital via redevelopment projects
Real estate developers based outside of Mumbai such as Delhi-based DLF, Bengaluru-based Prestige Estates, Puravankara, Pune-based Blackstone-backed Kolte-Patil Developers, Vascon Engineers, and Hyderabad-based Ramky Estates, are foraying into India's largest real estate market through redevelopment projects. While Mumbai has always been India's prime real estate market, policy-level incentives for redevelopments, less capital intensive nature of redevelopment business amid a lack of open land parcels, is attracting developers that are using asset-light strategies to get better realisations from high property rates. 'For developers based outside the MMR, redevelopment offers an effective route to enter the Mumbai market, given the limited availability of greenfield land. Additional attractive factors include higher FSI allowances in slum rehabilitation and society redevelopment projects, which translate to better returns on investment,' said Siddharth Vasudevan, MD, Vascon Engineers. Mumbai's redevelopment market is big enough to accomodate more players like Bengaluru-based Sobha and Ahmedabad-based Arvind Smartspaces are evaluating opportunities. According to Credai-MCHI, over 25,000 buildings across MMR are eligible for redevelopment, with the total estimated project value exceeding Rs 30,000 crore. As per Anarock, as of 2024, average property prices in MMR stood at Rs 16,600 per sq ft, while those in Bengaluru and Hyderabad stood at Rs 8,380 per sq ft and Rs 7,300 per sq ft, respectively. The prices in NCR stood at Rs 7,550 per sq ft. Vijay Agrawal, MD- investment banking, Equirus said that the average margins in real estate are around 25-30 per cent but the Mumbai market is known for higher realisation per square foot, between Rs 25,000 and Rs 1 lakh. 'In other cities, general realisation is between Rs 5,000-12,000, except in a few micro markets. Higher realisations help developers disclose higher revenue with a smaller sales area. This helps in improving their blended per sq ft realisations.' In Mumbai, a developer can book revenue of Rs 500 crore for 1 lakh sq ft of a project with a sale price of Rs 50,000 per sq ft for one project. However, in other markets, a developer will need to sell 5 lakh sq ft of area at Rs 10,000 per sq ft to achieve the same revenue, Agrawal explained. 'Listed companies can meet their topline growth targets by executing projects in this market," Sanjay Daga, CEO and MD, Anex Advisory, said. But the bright opportunity has its challenges. Redevelopment for non-Mumbai developers involves multiple stakeholders, so having a reliable team in a new market in a must. Dealing with local tenants besides higher cost of approvals, construction in smaller area of sites compared to the other cities, are other issues to name a few. 'Developers fail to underwrite the working capital requirement in Mumbai projects. A typical project in other cities is between 5 to 15 acres, while Mumbai's typical project is 0.5 to 3 acres. Construction costs in Mumbai are very steep,' said an industry expert who didn't wish to be named. To overcome these hindrances, developers are forging joint ventures with local developers who already have the land or permissions, and industry experts who hold the ability to deal with the local administration and tenants more effectively. This helps in securing faster approvals and faster project launches. DLF, for its first Mumbai project, has tied up with Trident Realty, a local real estate firm. Prestige, for its mega redevelopment project in Bandra, has joined hands with Mumbai-based Valor Estate and RC Group. Despite strong balance sheets and deep expertise, building trust among buyers will take time. 'Local developers, due to their deep-rooted presence and familiarity with these intricacies, often have an edge,' Shrinivas Rao, CEO, Vestian.
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
India's warehouse sector may be slowing gears—but the smart money isn't leaving just yet
Mumbai: For investors in India's real estate market, it isn't just office properties and residential developments that are vying for their money but also the more timid warehousing space. Warehouses emerged as a key investment segment the past 4-5 years driven by strong demand from logistics, e-commerce, manufacturing, and retail occupiers. However, investors are becoming increasingly selective now, prioritizing grade A assets in top-tier cities and favouring tech-enabled and environmentally sustainable warehouses, according to industry participants. Grade A warehouse stock across India's eight primary markets grew at a compound annual growth rate of 21% over the past five years, reaching 183 million in 2023-24, credit rating agencyIcra said in a July note. More than 50-55% of this stock is backed by global investors such as US private equity firm Blackstone, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, Singapore-headquartered GLP, and Hong Kong-based ESR Group. But this phase of high returns may be over as India's warehousing sector enters a period of more normalised and stable performance, according to industry experts. While the domestic warehousing sector saw exponential growth during the e-commerce boom with companies like Xander Group and Indospace expanding significantly as demand surged, the market is now more consolidated, said Shivam Bajaj, founder and chief executive officer of Avener Capital, a boutique investment bank focussed on the infrastructure and energy sectors. 'So the growth is going to be fairly stable," Bajaj said, adding that warehouse companies are expanding with minimal capital expenditure and he does not see another big spike coming. '(India's warehouse space) will grow at a steady 7-10% annually. That earlier jump was closely tied to the rapid rise of e-commerce, which has now matured." Even so, India's warehouse space has seen some recent big-ticket investments. In March, NDR InvIT Trust bought a 900,000 warehouse and industrial park in Surat from a consortium of Mumbai-based developers for an undisclosed sum. In January, the company announced a ₹706-crore investment plan to acquire fully leased warehouse assets in Surat, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad markets. Earlier in September, Macrotech Developers Ltd (Lodha Group) increased its stake in three warehouse companies by buying out Ivanhoe Warehousing India Inc.'s shareholding in those firms for ₹239.56 crore. Also read | ESR, Xander to sell their warehousing assets in India as industrial demand soars Diminishing interest Private equity investments in Indian real estate hit $4.2 billion in 2024, a 32% surge from the year prior, show data from Knight Frank India, a real estate consultancy. Warehousing led the charge, accounting for 45% of these investments and surpassing the office sector, which had held the highest share of PE investments since 2017. However, due to a prolonged period of elevated interest rates in the West and the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, 'there were no private equity deals in the warehousing sector during the March quarter of 2025 (January-March)", Vivek Rathi, national director, research, Knight Frank India, told Mint. Flow of overseas capital into Indian real estate, particularly warehousing, will remain a challenge this year, he said, adding that unlike the office and residential segments, warehousing has not seen meaningful investments in 2025. A key reason is the limited availability of ready investment-grade assets that meet the standards of global investors, Rathi said, adding that risk appetite and return expectations from warehouse assets in India has diminished. For stable, income-generating warehouse assets, internal rate of returns typically range from 9% to 13% for a holding period of 5-6 years. However, a decade ago, returns in the warehouse sector were at least 3-4 percentage points higher, the veteran pointed out. 'A decade ago, warehousing deals commanded a notable premium compared to office or retail assets but that gap has since narrowed, with returns now closely aligned across these sectors," Rathi said. Also read | The world's largest warehouse firm re-enters India with a $500 million purse Exits and IPOs Private equity firms typically adopt a medium-term investment horizon for warehouse assets, with exits primarily pursued through mergers and acquisitions. Typically, investors aim to build and exit a sizable portfolio with a 5-7-year horizon, according to industry experts. 'We are seeing more exits in the Indian warehousing segment now," said Anuj Puri, chairman of ANAROCK Group, a real estate consultancy. Major investors such as global private equity firm Bain Capital and Canadian real estate company Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc. recently sold their Indian warehousing stakes, he added. Prateek Jhawar, managing director and head, infrastructure and real assets, at Avendus Capital, said India's infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) model has demonstrated its potential as a viable exit route for PE investors. 'We believe that the industry has now matured enough with existing players having sufficient scale and capabilities to go for an IPO (initial public offering)," said Jhawar. 'We can probably witness a couple of big IPOs coming from the sector in the next 2-3 years." But PE investors in India's warehouse sector are keeping a close watch on factors such as inflation, slowing domestic consumption, supply chain disruptions, high rents, challenges in acquiring land, and shortage of skilled labour, said experts. Besides, the global economic uncertainty and the rupee's depreciation, which impacts dollar returns, also weigh on their decisions. 'Investors are still cautious for several reasons, including valuation corrections and the effect of policy changes," said Puri of ANAROCK Group. 'And that is why they remain focused on Grade A assets with quality tenants, which can help mitigate some of these risks."
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
USA Cricket declares bold new era, sets sight on full ICC membership, game-changing expansion plans around LA Olympics
From being the CEO of Cricket West Indies for seven years to now leading Major League Cricket (MLC), Johnny Grave's new mission could redefine the global cricketing order. And in less than half a year into his new role, the Englishman has hit the ground running. Grave has already overseen MLC's expansion to three active venues for 2025, pulling off a coup by securing the Oakland Coliseum as a host ground. 'We've got to be ready with cricket in America to capitalize on that, both in terms of the greater enthusiasm it will generate at the grassroots level, in the schools and the colleges, and also in terms of the fan base, and not making it just a one-off,' he told Cricbuzz. As MLC gears up for a pivotal few years with the LA28 Olympics on the horizon, Grave believes America is sitting on an untapped goldmine. But transforming that promise into permanence will take more than showpiece events. 'How do we take those fans from the Olympics and move them through into becoming really sticky and engaged cricket fans, and actually getting them to actively support our MLC teams and the US national teams, because we need those teams to build their own fan bases,' said Grave. Grave is also looking to reshape the grassroots structure and revenue model for Minor League Cricket (MiLC), which currently runs on personal investment from private owners. 'We have had really positive talks with the owners about redefining the business model for Minor League to help ensure it becomes more sustainable, both from a league perspective and the individual teams,' he said. 'There is definitely value within Minor League and we've seen that in the last few months, with ownership changing, different investors coming into the individual teams.' Player development is also at the heart of Grave's blueprint. With full-time earnings for the majority of American cricketers still meagre, his aim is to establish a structure where pursuing cricket professionally is financially viable. 'We've had really good discussions with the US players' union. We're probably going to be the first league in the US to sign an agreement with the players' union… what USA-based cricketers are earning now compared to their Associate Member counterparts would be significantly ahead of any other team,' he said. Grave believes USA Cricket could soon make a strong case for full ICC membership, if it fixes its governance flaws. 'I think USA Cricket already has a very compelling case to become an ICC full member… The one concern I think the game of cricket might have would be the ongoing governance challenges that the board has faced over pretty much all of its recent history,' he noted. His understanding of ICC systems, gained through his years at the helm of a full-member board, could be key in lobbying for a unique pathway. 'Certainly everything that we're planning to do with Minor League Cricket and expanding the academy network, and with MLC already a premier domestic T20 tournament on the global stage… it is only going to assist the case.' Grave isn't just building a league. He's helping awaken a sleeping giant. And if the plans take shape, American cricket may soon do more than just catch up—it might well start leading the conversation.
