Thakral

Thakral's 51% investment unit, Thakral Capital Australia has set up a 50:50 JV, GTH Resorts with PVAP, owned by the Puljich family, to develop resort-style retirement villages under the “Living Gems” brand in Australia.

The Puljich family has 30 years of track record in developing, owning and operating retirement communities totaling over 1,100 dwellings in SE Queensland, Australia.

GTH Resorts plans to acquire land in South Queensland and Northern New South Wales to develop more than 1,000 units of retirement homes and expand to other parts of Australia thereafter.

Typically, the resort-style retirement villages will be located near shopping centres, medical facilities, public transport and entertainment spots.

Thakral’s venture bodes well with an ageing population in Australia, and based on estimates from the Aged and Community Services Australia, demand for retirement housing is expected to increase more than 110% to 69,000 from 32,200 over the next decade.

Meanwhile, GTH Resorts recently acquired a 8.46-ha site at Kratzke Road, Highfields in Queensland for A$6.3m, of which it is pending local regulators’ approval to build a retirement village with 200 homes.

The total development cost of the Highfields project is projected to be A$35.7m and will be funded from internal sources, sales proceeds and bank loans.

Thakral is currently trading at 0.4x P/B.