Kardan plans to invest EUR 800m in China and India

Amsterdam and Tel Aviv-listed investment company Kardan plans to invest up to EUR 800 mln in China and India to develop residential and commercial real estate. 'We see enormous demand in these markets,' Kardan chairman Alain Ickovics said in an interview with Bloomberg.

The Israeli-Dutch company already has six real estate developments in China and one in India. Now, Kardan's real state arm, Global Trade Center Real Estate, has set aside EUR 200 mln for equity investments in Asia. Ickovics said the total amount will likely grow to two to four times that amount with financing.

Meanwhile, Kardan's German unit said construction is to start in April on a 134-room hotel in the Siemens park in the German city of Karlsruhe. The hotel will be leased on a 20-year contract by the Star Inn hotel chain. The project is scheduled for delivery in May 2009.

Focused on emerging markets mostly within Central and Eastern Europe and China, Kardan is primarily active in three sectors: real estate, financial services and infrastructure. The company's total assets amounted to EUR 2.2 bn at end-December 2006.