PARSIPPANY, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI®) today announced that it has launched a program to invest in real estate in India through a strategic relationship with a recently formed merchant bank called Beekman Helix India Partners LLC (BHI). PREI is the real estate investment management and advisory business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU).

PREI, acting on behalf of German institutional investors in its Asia Property Fund I, has committed $50 million and so far participated in three investments in a mezzanine program managed by BHI, which will provide deal sourcing, acquisition and asset management services. BHI was formed by Beekman Advisors and Helix Financial Group, and is led by CEO Shekar Narasimhan, a Beekman managing partner and former Prudential Mortgage Capital Company managing director. Manish Parwani, a managing partner of Helix Financial Group, serves as president and chief operating officer. BHI is headquartered in McLean, Va., and Gurgaon, India, and has eight full-time employees. The company provides advisory and real estate investment management services to Indian developers and institutional investors.

“Investing through this mezzanine opportunity enables our investors to capitalize on the increasing institutionalization of India’s real estate market and provides a prudent way to access this increasingly significant global market," said Victoria Sharpe, managing director of PREI and head of its Asian business. “We’re delighted to work with strategic thinkers like Shekar and Manish, who have put a great team on the ground and have figured out how to get deals done in this market."

In a recent research report, India-Completing the Investment Universe, PREI estimated that higher-quality commercial real estate in India totals about US$100 billion, equaling about 0.6 percent of the global commercial real estate stock. In the long term, PREI’s research team estimated that India’s real estate share should rise to more than 3 percent of global commercial real estate stock and more than 12 percent of the Asian stock due to the structural transformation of India’s economy.

“Favorable demographics, a large pool of educated and skilled labor, a liberalized macroeconomic policy environment and greater foreign investment and exports are accelerating India’s economic growth," said Dipa Kapas, PREI director of research.

Kapas cited several factors driving opportunities for investors:

India has become the world’s back office, becoming the most prominent destination for outsourcing activities and spurring office demand growth. A structural shift within India’s retail landscape could drive the organized retail share of commercial real estate to 10 percent in five years. The housing market is on a steep growth path. Rising income, population growth, decreasing household size, a housing shortage and a decline in mortgage rates will likely lead to extensive residential construction activity.

Manish Parwani who is based in Gurgaon, near Delhi said, “There are structural inefficiencies in the way the commercial real estate business is organized today in India. New capital market 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."

PREI’s specialized operating units offer a broad range of investment opportunities and investment management services in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The company’s fund management operations, located in Parsippany, N.J.; Atlanta, Ga.; Munich, London, Mexico City and Singapore, are supported by a network of local offices throughout the world. As of September 30, 2006, PREI managed $32.9 billion of gross assets ($23.7 billion net) on behalf of more than 300 clients and is ranked among the largest real estate investment managers. For more information, visit www.prei.com