Blackstone Real Estate Partners to Invest in Synergy, India?s Leading Development / Project Management Firm

Blackstone Real Estate Partners, an affiliate of The Blackstone Group

L.P. (NYSE: BX) announced today that it agreed to invest approximately

$18 million for a minority stake with board representation in Synergy

Property Development Services Private Ltd.
Formed in 2003, Synergy is now one of the top project and construction

management companies in India and currently has over 500 employees

across 9 Indian offices, with international offices in Dubai and Kuala

Lumpur. Synergy, which is based out of Bangalore, has delivered over 20

million square feet of real estate and is presently managing over 100

million square feet across various asset classes including office

retail, residential, hotels and hospitals. The company also has plans to

expand into infrastructure projects such as airports.
Synergy specializes in architectural design and fitouts, complete

project management and turnkey contracts. The company´s

forte is managing the entire process from start to finish and ensuring

timely project delivery. Its portfolio of projects include well known

developments such as the Medicity in Gurgaon, India´s

largest hospital cluster development, Select Citywalk, a premium retail

development in Delhi, the HCC-ICICI Tech Park and Runwal Town Centre in

Mumbai, the Park Hyatt hotel in Chennai, and the Manyata Business Park

and Embassy Golf Links in Bangalore, two of the largest and most

successful business parks in India.
Sankey Prasad, Managing Director of Synergy said, "Started

by a group of young architects and engineers, Synergy has created a

leading position in the market by tying our success in the design and

project management of large, prestigious projects to the delivery of top

quality construction on time and on budget. With a qualified, proactive

and experienced staff base, and aided by industry leading retention

rates of our staff, the strength of Synergy is in its people."
Chad Pike, Senior Managing Director and London-based co-head of

Blackstone´s real estate group, said, "We

are excited to be doing this innovative deal and about teaming up with

the best project manager in India as we build our business in the

region. In the longer term, we believe there will be attractive real

estate investment opportunities that follow from this partnership." Tuhin Parikh, Managing Director of Blackstone´s

real estate group in Mumbai added, "We look

forward to using Blackstone´s global platform

to support the continued growth of Synergy as it delivers on its

long-term growth plan."
Sankey Prasad commented, "Our vision for

partnering with Blackstone is to combine our individual strengths and

build a strong platform to deliver world class products in the Indian

and global real estate market. In addition, part of the proceeds from

this transaction will make possible a wealth creation and retention

program for each and every employee of Synergy, so that we can continue

to foster our entrepreneurial culture as we grow."
About The Blackstone Group
The Blackstone Group L.P. is a leading global alternative asset manager

and provider of financial advisory services. Its alternative asset

management businesses include the management of corporate private equity

funds, real estate funds, funds of hedge funds, mezzanine funds, senior

debt vehicles, proprietary hedge funds and closed-end mutual funds. The

Blackstone Group L.P. also provides various financial advisory services

including corporate and mergers and acquisitions advisory, restructuring

and reorganization advisory and fund placement services.
Blackstone´s Real Estate group numbers more

than 60 investment and asset management professionals with broad

experience across most real estate categories, including hotels, office

residential, retail, and other commercial properties. The group has

completed more than 225 separate investments in North America and Europe

with a total transaction value of approximately $132 billion since 1992.

Most recently the group opened offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Mumbai to

expand Blackstone´s real estate business in

Asia, and closed Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI with capital

commitments totalling $10.9 billion, creating the largest real estate

opportunity fund ever raised. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com.