Private equity fund Indus Capital Partners has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against three subsidiaries of Delhi-based developer Uppal Housing Pvt. Ltd citing oppression of investors, mismanagement and diversion of funds.
In its petition filed on 21 January, the New York-based fund asked the Delhi bench of NCLT to prevent the developer from creating any third-party rights on its land parcels. Mint has seen a copy of the petition. The case is yet to come up for hearing.
Indus Capital also requested the tribunal to direct Uppal Housing to give true and accurate accounts of its subsidiaries, including the use of funds where the PE has invested.
According to two people familiar with the matter, Indus Capital invested around ₹320 crore in three subsidiaries of Uppal Housing—Umang Co-developers Pvt. Ltd, Umang Noida SEZ Pvt. Ltd and Umang Realtech—between 2008 and 2010.
With the investment, Uppal Housing created three companies—Umang Realtech, Umang Noida SEZ and Umang Co-developers. Umang Realtech was created to develop mid-income residential apartments, while Umang Co-developers and Umang Noida SEZ develop townships in different parts of Noida.
According to its petition, Indus Capital Partners had invested about ₹233 crore in Umang Realtech, holding 52% stake since 2010. It also invested around ₹45 crore in Umang Noida SEZ for a 40% equity stake, and ₹43 crore in Umang Co-developers for a 40% stake. The offshore investor has sought NCLT’s intervention to retrieve around ₹288 crore from Umang Realtech alone, including interest. It has also requested the tribunal to direct the builder to complete the housing project where around 1,000 home buyers have invested.
Referring to Umang Noida SEZ, the petition said, “Respondents…misappropriated and converted to their own use, the entire amount contributed by the petitioner (PE firm) and respondent No. 2 (Uppal Housing Pvt. Ltd), which was meant to be utilized for the business of the company to itself. Respondent No 2 (Uppal Housing) also failed to pay the lease premium/rental outstanding under the Greater Noida Lease Deed or undertake development work.”
Questions emailed to Uppal Housing and Indus Capital Partners remained unanswered till press time.
Anand Desai, managing partner of law firm DSK Legal which is advising the PE firm, confirmed the filing but did not share details since the matter is subjudice.
The Uppal Housing website shows India Property Fund and Trikona Trinity Fund as investors in its other projects, apart from Indus Capital. According to the website, Uppal Group was founded in 1979 has delivered more than 5,000 units and 10 million sq. ft till date and another 20 million sq. ft is under planning and development.
Source: Mint