Warburg Pincus arm ties up with Runwal Group for $1 billion mall JV

BENGALURU: An affiliate of private equity firm Warburg Pincus and property developer Runwal Group have formed a $1-billion joint venture to create a retail mall platform. Both will invest $200 million each in the form of equity and raise another $600 million of debt to invest in and develop shopping malls across Tier I, II and III cities in the country.


The platform will look to build large destination malls as well as smaller

hypermarket

and cinema anchored community malls. Warburg Pincus’s affiliate and Mumbai-based Runwal will each hold a 50% stake in the platform. Former Unilever executive Sanjay Dube will head the venture.

“With a growing middle class and expansion of branded retail, shopping malls present a meaningful opportunity to participate in India’s evolving consumption story,” Anish Saraf, managing director, Warburg Pincus India said.

The platform is the first by Warburg in India in the retail space and follows similar models adopted in other countries such as China,

Vietnam

and Indonesia, with entities such as Red Star Macalline, Vincom Retail and NWP Retail. In 2017, Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and The Phoenix Mills, led by Atul Ruia, signed a similar agreement to develop, own and operate retail malls.