US Billionaire Sam Zell’s Equity International Plans Entry into Indian Real Estate

Billionaire Sam Zell is entering the real estate markets in India and Columbia in the next two weeks as he continues to favor international investments over US property deals. Zell, chairman of Chicago-based Equity International, will invest in real estate in Colombia and will eventually move on to residential projects, he told Bloomberg Television. In India, he plans to open hotels.

“In India, we’re doing a hotel/motel program like Residence Inn at Marriott and we hope to build a chain across the country,” he said. Zell, through Equity International, which he co-founded with Gary Garrabrant in 1999, has invested in real estate- related companies around the world, including in Brazil, China and Mexico. His involvement in the US property market is “minimal” amid low interest rates and inflation that he estimates to be as high as 6 per cent, Zell said. Equity International’s first deal in Colombia is a $75 million investment in Bogota-based Terranum Development, a closely held real estate company, according to a statement.