Motilal Oswal PE invests Rs 75 crore for stake in Glass Wall Systems

MUMBAI: Motilal Oswal Private Equity has invested Rs 75 crore for a significant minority stake in Glass Wall Systems (India) that manufactures, supply and installs architectural glass facade system. The company that boasts of projects such as Mukesh Ambani's residence The Antilia, The Capital in BKC, will use the capital to expand its manufacturing, company official said.

"Investment by Motilal Oswal PE will help us to set up a state of the art fabrication cum processing facility for facades in Mumbai. This facility will significantly increase our capacity by 3-4 times enabling us to cater larger number of projects," said Jawahar Hemrajani, co-founder of Glass Wall.

Founded in 2002 by fabricators Jawahar Hemrajani and Kamlesh Chaudhari, the company installs glass facades and other building materials for residential and commercial complexes in India. The company has been growing at 23% CAGR in the last five years.

Some of the key projects that the company has been part of are Antilia, residence of Mukesh Ambani,; One India Bulls Center, One India Bulls Finance Center, Marathon Futurex and is currently executing projects like World One, the tallest residential tower in the world, Kohinoor Square, the largest office space in Mumbai and Ahuja Towers, a ultra luxurious residential apartment in the upscale Prabhadevi, Mumbai.

In India, wide usage of facade has been prominent only in the last decade and with high economic growth, focus on aesthetics, growth in income, people willingness to pay and growth in high rise construction will drive usage of facades in both premium residential and commercial segments.

With an annual growth rate of more than 25%, the glass facade industry is expected to grow further. "With the growth of high rises, not just in metros but in other tier II cities, we are expecting the industry to grow at even higher rate. Within the industry, Glass Wall is the market leader," Prakash Bagla, principal Motilal Oswal Private equity said. Motilal Oswal PE has invested jointly from India Business Excellence Fund II and India Business Excellence Fund IIA.

"We will also be setting up satellite assembly units in multiple cities in India which will enable us to expand our reach, serve our customers faster and better and become a true Pan India player," Kamlesh Chaudhari said.

Some of the large industry players globally include Permasteelisa in Europe, Beijing Jiayu, Jhango, Yuanda, Apogee in England.