Piramal Finance forays into hospitality sector, commits Rs 1,200 crore across marquee hotel assets in Gurgaon, Bengaluru and Pune

Piramal Finance (PFL), a subsidiary of Piramal Enterprises, has forayed into the hospitality sector with multiple transactions done in quick succession. The platform has committed Rs 650 crore towards two marquee hotel assets in North India, followed by another Rs 550 crore across another two assets in Bengaluru and Pune, respectively.   PFL deployed Rs 650 crore in Vatika Hotels, thereby providing a comprehensive financing solution to the Vatika Group to consolidate their existing lenders and increase their stake in the company by providing an exit to existing equity investors. The investment was made against two established hotel assets being operated by Marriott. The Westin Gurgaon is a 313 room key hotel strategically located in Gurgaon’s central business district near IFFCO Chowk. The hotel has been operational since 2010, and is a highly successful business cum leisure destination with consistently high occupancy rates and an established F&B and banqueting business. The Westin Resort Sohna is an established destination property developed as a weekend getaway located an hour away from IFFCO Chowk.   Similarly, in one of the largest fund raising deals within the hospitality sector in Bengaluru, PFL has sanctioned ~Rs 550 crore of structured debt towards the Advantage Raheja Group (promoted by Deepak Raheja) to support their growth plans and enable a refinance of existing lenders across two hospitality projects – The JW Marriott in Bengaluru and the Crowne Plaza in Pune. Both the properties enjoy the advantage of being in prime locations and expect excellent growth in terms of Occupancy and Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR).   Hospitality is an evergreen sector and quality assets at good locations have thrived across business cycles. Hotels are long gestation projects and require long term financing partners who can provide tailor-made solutions, which can help the asset ride successfully across business cycles. PFL has always followed a partnership approach and will follow similar approach with respect to investments in hospitality with the ability to participate across the entire capital stack – be it senior debt opportunities, mezzanine funding, last mile funding towards completion and acquisition financing opportunities in the sector.   Khushru Jijina, Managing Director, Piramal Finance, said “Identifying a niche in the market and creating uniquely customised funding solutions has always been our forte and we have been fortunate in being able to apply the same across sectors in the past. The hospitality sector is uniquely positioned at the intersection of being both a real estate and a service-oriented business in our opinion, and through the combination of our Wholesale RE Funding platform, the Corporate Finance Group and our Capital Markets Group, we are able to service the needs of this industry across the entire capital stack, on behalf of both hotel owners as well as operators, on a holistic basis. I look forward to many more such transactions as we commit more resources towards the sector.”   Gaurav Bhalla, Director, Vatika Group, said, “We are extremely pleased to have extended our partnership with the Piramal Group beyond residential and concluded a transaction against our hotel assets. We believe they bring a unique perspective along with an ability to understand the business extremely well and have provided us with unique insights as well as creative and customised solutions time and again to meet our growth capital needs.”   Deepak Raheja, Promoter, Advantage Raheja Group, said, “The team from Piramal was able to understand the industry dynamics and create a tailored solution that would not have otherwise been possible from a standard and typical lender. I am extremely pleased with our association which transcends beyond the provision of capital towards engagement on the growth and revenue optimisation strategy for both the hotel assets and we look forward to scaling this relationship further.”