Mumbai, August 26, 2011

Value & Budget Housing Corporation (VBHC), a pioneer in the construction and development of affordable entry level housing in India, has concluded its equity raise of USD 26 million from The Carlyle Group. The capital, which will be used to fund the building of these new homes, comes from FCG IX, a part of Carlyle Asia Growth Partners IV (CAGP IV), a US$1.04 billion sector-agnostic growth capital fund. Existing investors in VBHC have also committed additional capital alongside Carlyle.

VBHC launched their first project “VBHC Vaibhava” in Bangalore. Homes in VBHC Vaibhava are priced between INR 4.5 Lac to 10 Lac. More than 1,000 units have been sold in the last 12 months and the pre-sale of another 900 units will start next month. VBHC will adopt Form Systems in the construction of the project, which will allow for faster and superior construction, minimal wastage and high standardisation in the process. VBHC will launch similar projects in Chennai, Hyderabad and NCR.

Jaithirth Rao, Chairman of VBHC said, “VBHC is a trusted partner delivering high quality affordable entry level homes to its customers. We are very happy to be associated with The Carlyle Group and hope to leverage their relationships as we continue to fulfill our vision of building a million affordable entry level homes in this country.”

P.S. Jayakumar, Managing Director of VBHC said, “VBHC has been able to transform real estate development into a lean industrial process amenable to mass production with the use of the ‘form’ technology for construction. VBHC plans to replicate the success of project Vaibhava in Bangalore and aims to develop a strong nationwide footprint.”

Girish Nadkarni, Executive Director, Avendus Capital added, “We are extremely pleased to be associated with VBHC in their journey towards making affordable housing a reality. The company has built a successful business model to address a huge unmet demand in housing.”

Avendus Capital acted as the sole financial advisor to Value & Budget Housing Corporation for this transaction.

About VBHC

VBHC was co-founded by Jaithirth Rao and P.S Jayakumar with a vision to build one million affordable entry level homes over ten years across urban India. VBHC is setting up an expansive network of integrated housing projects nationwide that will apply the latest industrial engineering and construction technology to improve the construction process and build scale through standardization. VBHC aims to bring value to home-buyers by maximizing their financial options, lowering maintenance costs and ensuring sustainable living through renewable energy and water & waste management. VBHC projects are situated in the urban periphery and are well connected to the city's central transportation system. Each of the projects will be self-sufficient and will contain an on-site English medium school, working women's centre, day care medical centre and a local shopping complex.

About CAGP IV

CAGP IV invests in high growth companies in key Asian markets including India, China and Korea. With more than US$2 billion in assets under management, CAGP adds value to portfolio companies through its global network, deep local insight from its native investment team, experience in a broad range of industries, expertise in business management and strengths in global M&A and capital markets initiatives. This has allowed CAGP’s portfolio companies to accelerate capacity and market share expansions.

About Avendus Capital Private Limited

Avendus Capital is a leading financial services firm which provides customised solutions in the areas of financial advisory, equity capital markets and wealth management. The firm relies on its extensive track record, in-depth domain understanding and knowledge of the economic and regulatory environment, to offer research based solutions to its clients that include institutional investors, corporates and high net worth families. Avendus Capital has consistently been ranked among the top-five corporate finance advisors in India and has emerged as the advisor of choice for cross-border M&A deals and has closed 35 crossborder transactions in the past 4 years. Avendus Securities through its Institutional Equities practice is able to offer clients best-in-class research-driven advice to help them take investment decisions, while Avendus PE Investment Advisors manages funds raised from its investors by investing in public markets and private equity. Headquartered in Mumbai, the firm has offices in New Delhi and Bangalore. Avendus Capital, Inc (US) and Avendus Capital (UK) Pvt. Ltd. located in New York and London respectively, are wholly owned subsidiaries offering M&A and Private Equity syndication services to clients in the respective regions. For more information, please visit www.avendus.com