Malaysian co forms JV with MAK Group

Hyderabad: Sunway City Berhad, part of the $1-billion Malaysian Sunway Group, has picked a 60 per cent equity in a joint venture with the Hyderabad-based MAK Group for a Rs 350-crore high-rise realty project.

The Malaysian company will bring $5 million as foreign direct investment (FDI) for its equity holding in the joint venture, which is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) called MAK Builders, at present.

The venture will develop about two million sq. ft of residential space in the high rise, ‘affordable apartments’, with sizes of 1,000 to 1,300 sq. ft and price up to Rs 50 lakh. The project will be near the upcoming Shamshabad international airport, said Mr Murali Krishna Reddy, Chairman of the MAK Group, started in 2006.

The Malaysian company will lead the project. It will bring in construction expertise, architecture and also market it. “We are looking at marketing opportunities in the US, where a large Indian population in the IT sector reside,” said Mr Ngian Siew Song, Managing Director.

This is the second investment for the Malaysian company in India. The first also in Hyderabad brought in $25 million. The Group, which is into infrastructure, hospitality, healthcare hotels and IT, wants to use Hyderabad as the gateway for bigger opportunities in the country, he told newspersons at the agreement signing today.

The MAK Group, which has two main companies — MAK Projects Pvt. Ltd and Hotels & Resorts has acquired 15 acres for the venture.

It would take about 4-5 years to complete it, said Mr Murali Krishna Reddy.

The Group is also into developing hotels in major cities, including Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Nagpur, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune under the brand name ‘Blue Lotus’. Plans to invest up to Rs 600 crore to create 2,000 rooms under three and four star category hotels are on, he said.