Country Garden eyes maiden realty deal

One of China's top three township developers, Country Garden, is close to clinching a deal with TVH, a Chennai property developer, to buy a 60-ground (one ground is 2,400sqft) land parcel in Kotturpuram, a premium residential locality in the city. The land parcel was originally part of the 18-acre Adyar Villa property owned by industrialist, said sources claiming that the land parcel in question is a Adyar Villa landmark in the area and is located close to the Adyar river.Country Garden has been planning a foray into the Indian realty market for some time; now it is on the verge of buying the Adyar Villa plot. The deal may have two components – around Rs 220 crore in cash and a share for TVH in the development. The source said TVH will be the local partner for Country Garden in Chennai for this project, since it makes sense for the Chinese company to have an Indian partner for getting clearances and approvals from government agencies. The two plan to jointly promote the project (but not as a joint venture) through a Special Purpose vehicle (SPV), and TVH is likely to get around 20% of the development.