Industry Players Join to Launch New India Company

Industry Players Join to Launch New India Company

Beekman Advisors and Helix Financial Group create real estate merchant bank in India

Two companies who are leaders in the real estate finance industry have formed an advisory and investment management company focused on Indian real estate called Beekman Helix India Partners LLC (BHI).

Shekar Narasimhan, Managing Partner of Beekman Advisors serves as CEO of BHI and Manish Parwani, Managing Partner of Helix Financial Group serves as President & Chief Operating Officer. BHI is headquartered in McLean, Va and Gurgaon, India and has 8 full-time employees. The company provides advisory and real estate investment management services to Indian developers and global institutions. Started in mid-2006 and capitalized by US investors, it has so far deployed $52 million in capital in multiple transactions through its balance sheet and a program relationship with institutional investors advised by Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI(R)), the real estate investment and advisory business of Prudential Financial, Inc.

“It’s a fascinating time to be in India,” says Shekar. “The ‘next- generation’ Indian real estate companies are in the making today — we will likely see as much change in the next few years in this industry as we’ve witnessed during the past decade. Manish and I will help our clients navigate the new landscape of commercial real estate finance in India and be a valued partner with skin in the game.”

“There are structural inefficiencies in the way the commercial real estate business is organized today in India,” adds Manish. “New capital markets products like mezzanine need to be executed and high-quality relationships must be developed, whether from the perspective of an owner, debt provider or equity investor, public or private entity. Shekar and I believe we can build BHI into a very high caliber conduit for capital from all over the world into India.”

Vickie Sharpe, managing director and head of PREI’s Asian operations adds: “Shekar and Manish are experienced strategic thinkers who have put a great team on the ground and figured out to how to get deals done in this emerging market. They will help our clients be successful in diversifying their real estate portfolios with Indian investments.”

Shekar brings more than 30 years of commercial mortgage and agency lending experience to BHI. He co-founded Beekman Advisors and prior to that at Prudential Mortgage Capital Company he headed Prudential Real Estate Fixed Income Investors (PREFII), the commercial mortgage funds management group specializing in core and high-yield investments for institutional investors. Immediately prior to Prudential, Shekar was Chairman & CEO of the WMF Group, one of the largest publicly traded, commercial mortgage financial services companies in the country.

Shekar has received numerous awards and recognition in the real estate industry, including the MBA’s Distinguished Service Award, its highest honor, in 1999 and the Fannie Mae Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. He is currently a Fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University and on several industry and nonprofit boards. Shekar also served several terms on the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA) Board of Directors.

Manish Parwani co-founded Helix Financial Group and was formerly a Principal in the CMBS Finance group of Banc of America Securities LLC where he was responsible for all fixed rate securitization. His responsibilities included pricing all originations, running executions and placement of the first loss and non investment grade bond. Previously Mr. Parwani spent 2 years at Key Bank where he held the position of Vice President — Securitization and Trading and was involved in developing the CMBS / Real Estate capital markets group within Key Bank. He was responsible for pricing, bond trading and securitization.

Manish has also worked in India with companies like HCL-Hewlett Packard and UB Group (one of India’s top 10 Corporations). He has resided in India since April 2004 and set up Helix’s operations in India.

About the sponsors

Beekman Advisors, Inc, provides strategic advisory and investment banking services to companies involved in real estate, mortgage finance, affordable housing and related sectors. Beekman’s mission is to help build the next generation of companies in the real estate financial services industry, as well as the technology and services that enable and support them. Beekman has offices in McLean, Virginia and New York City. Clients include large financial institutions and entrepreneurially-run private companies. For more information please visit http://www.beekmanadvisors.com/.

Helix Financial delivers a broad range of analytical and underwriting services to clients throughout the US, Europe and Asia in the CMBS, commercial real estate and structured finance industries. Helix provides cost-efficient and scaleable service solutions through a balanced global strategy that combines the talents of highly-experienced professionals located in the US with a full-service operations center in India. Clients include Fortune 500 companies, investment and commercial banks, fund managers, insurance companies, real estate developers and specialty finance companies. Helix Financial currently employs 135 personnel in its Charlotte, NC, Atlanta, GA, and Gurgaon, India offices. For more information please visit http://www.helixfinancial.com/.

Website: http://www.beekmanadvisors.com/
Website: http://www.helixfinancial.com/