Mumbai: Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors Limited (EAAA), the alternatives asset management arm of Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd, on Monday, announced that it will be acquiring two funds from Milestone Capital Advisors Ltd - Milestone Opportunities Fund 10 and Milestone Commercial Advantage Fund.
Both funds are Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) registered Category II alternative investment funds with combined assets under management of over Rs 150 crore.
Milestone is a privately held alternative investment advisory firm. It has raised over $600 million (Rs 3,900 crore) till date.
Edelweiss will also absorb the investment team of these funds, which have over a decade of experience in commercial real estate (CRE), the statement added. The transaction is subject to requisite regulatory approvals.
“There is a growing demand from investors for high yielding long term assets and we believe this is a large structural opportunity. This acquisition will also provide us a seamless entry into the CRE space adjacent to our current offerings in residential real estate,” said Nitin Jain, chief executive officer, Global Wealth and Asset Management Business at Edelweiss.
Edelweiss Group currently manages customer assets of over $26 billion, of which Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors Limited (EAAA) manages $2 billion of assets under management. EAAA focuses on credit opportunities in India catering to global and domestic investors across illiquid strategies including infrastructure, distressed assets, collateralized credit and real estate.
“Over the last 8-10 months the industry has witnessed a spate of transactions clearly indicating a turnaround in the commercial real estate space. We also continue to receive keen interest from international investors including large global pension funds and insurance companies aggressively looking at acquiring grade-A commercial real assets for long term investment. This acquisition will allow us to partner with global institutions looking at India as a long term investment destination,” said Venkat Ramaswamy, executive director and co-head, Global Wealth and Asset Management Business at Edelweiss.
EAAA recently garnered its base offering size of Rs 2,000 crore for its Edelweiss Infrastructure Yield Plus Fund.