Sun-Apollo to invest up to $50 mln in Sobha Developers-sources

Executives at Sobha and Sun-Apollo could not immediately be reached for comment.

Sobha,based in the southern Indian city of Bangalore,has built more than 51 million square feet of homes and offices since its inception in 1995.

Sun-Apollo,a joint venture between India’s Sun Group,controlled by the Khemka family,and U.S.-based AREA Property Partners,formerly called Apollo Real Estate Advisors,raised more than $600 million in 2006 to invest in real estate projects in India.

In December 2011,it invested about 450 million rupees ($8.5 million) in a subsidiary of Mumbai-based Godrej Properties.

Private equity investments in real estate fell 44 percent in the September quarter to $394 million from $726 million a year earlier,according to Venture Intelligence,an industry data tracker. ($1 = 52.8850 Indian rupees)