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Blackstone arm buys Synergy stake for Rs 72 cr

April 29, 2008 10:27 IST
Blackstone Real Estate Partners, the real estate arm of Blackstone group, has taken a minority stake in Synergy Property Development Services by investing $18 million (Rs 72 crore).

Synergy specializes in architectural design and fitouts, complete project management and turnkey contracts. The company's forte is in managing the entire process from start to finish and ensuring timely project delivery.

Blackstone recently closed Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI with capital commitments worth $10.9 billion, creating the largest ever real estate opportunity fund.

Chad Pike, senior managing director and London-based co-head of Blackstone's real estate group, said, "We are excited about doing this innovative deal and teaming up with the best project manager in India as we build our business in the region. In the longer term, we believe there will be attractive real estate investment opportunities that follow from this partnership." Tuhin Parekh is the managing director of Blackstone's real estate group in Mumbai.

Synergy was formed in 2003. It is among the top project and construction management companies in India and has over 500 employees spread across 9 Indian offices, and international offices in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur.

Synergy, which is based out of Bangalore, has delivered real estate worth more than 20 million square feet and currently manages over 100 million square feet across various asset classes including office, retail, residential, hotels and hospitals. The company is also planning to expand into infrastructure projects such as airports.

Blackstone's Real Estate group has more than 60 investment and asset management professionals with broad experience across most real estate categories, including hotels, office, residential, retail and other commercial properties.

The group has completed more than 225 separate investments in North America and Europe with a total transaction value of about $132 billion since 1992.

Most recently, the group opened offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Mumbai to expand Blackstone's real estate business in Asia.

BS Reporter in Mumbai
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