George Soros buys 2.5-per cent stake in Indiabulls Real Estate
20 Mar 2008
Mumbai: George Soros, the real estate billionaire has acquired a 2.5-per cent stake in Indiabulls Real Estate (IRE), for Rs276 crore.
Soros' hedge fund Quantum Fund picked up over 6 million Indiabulls Real Estate shares in the open market on Tuesday 18 March for Rs455.8 on a day when the shares closed 4.2 per cent down at Rs449.4.
There would be no dilution in the promoters' stake post-acquisition, as the transaction involved an exchange of stakes between Quantum and global financial firm Morgan Stanley.
The investment has come at a time when many American realty firms have been on a selling spree amid concerns over an acute financial crisis enveloping the US.
George Soros has invested in a few Indian companies, from real estate to infrastructure industry, including Unitech, GMR Infrastructure, Anant Raj Industries and Shree Precoated Steels. Quantum Fund is also believed to have recently picked up some stake in Future Capital Holdings, the financial services arm of Kishore Biyani's Future Group.
George Soros is the chairman of Soros Fund Management and the Open Society Institute and is also a former member of the board of directors of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has been active as a philanthropist for more than 25 years and has established a network of philanthropic organisations, which is involved in benevolent activities in more than 50 countries.
