Lodha raises $400 million QIP from investors including Invesco Oppenheimer, Blackrock, APG

This is the fourth equity raise by Lodha in the last 36 months totalling Rs 13,000 crore of capital, including its initial public offering (IPO) in April 2021.

"The significant demand from marquee investors enabled us to close the QIP within hours of opening the book...India’s housing industry is going to play the pivotal role in the country’s transition from a low-income economy to being a middle-income economy by the end of the decade," said said Abhishek Lodha, MD & CEO, Macrotech Developers.

During this period, according to him, housing is going to be the key beneficiary as well as the driver of economic growth thereby creating a “once in a country’s lifetime opportunity” for the industry.

The entire book was allocated to long-only global investors. Existing shareholders of the company such as Capital Group, GQG, Nomura, ADIA, and HDFC Life increased their investment through this issue.

The Institutional placement also saw new investors such as Invesco Oppenheimer, Blackrock, Carmignac, Franklin Templeton, Norges, Lazard, APG, RWC etc.

"We see all the structural factors are in place for significant growth in volumes and are in only the fourth year of a multi-decade-long housing cycle. With this capital raise, our balance sheet is exceptionally placed and will give us the opportunity to improve profitability, while we continue to deliver on our growth outlook," Lodha said.

As of December end, the company has completed 121 projects comprising around 96.6 million sq ft and has 48 ongoing projects comprising around 31.8 million sq ft of developable area. In addition to ongoing and planned projects, the company holds land reserves of 4,206 acres for future development in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, with the potential to develop 621.9 million sq ft.