News: Hiranandani group raises $754 mln in London

(RTR 14/12/2006) Mumbai - Real estate group Niranjan Hiranandani raised 382.6 million pounds ($753.7 million) through a listing of its Hirco Plc unit on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, the company said in a Dec. 13 regulatory filing.

Hirco, a closed-ended investment company based in the Isle of Man, will invest in foreign-direct-investment compliant real estate projects in India.

Hirco will invest in five projects including townships and special economic zones, regulatory filings showed.

Regulations do not permit foreign investment in all areas of real estate, so Indian real estate firms spin-off some projects which are foreign investment compliant and raise funds from overseas investors.

Last month, Ishaan Real Estate Plc. of the Raheja group, Hiranandani's Mumbai-based rival, raised 180 million pounds in the AIM market.

HSBC Bank and Bear Stearns were managers to the Hirco issue.