August 9, 2013 – Mr. Manoj Benjamin, Chairman, Royal Indian Raj International Corporation is pleased to announce the appointment to RIRIC’s Business Advisory Board of Mr. Lawrence Berk. Mr. Berk is a partner at Wharton Associates and Chairman of Atlantic Crossing Productions, LLC, NYC.
Mr. Berk has over 30 years of experience in the investment banking arena and with New York Stock Exchange companies. He has been integral in structuring, and providing counsel and strategic planning services on a multitude of financings for many top corporations worldwide. He is a partner at Wharton Associates and Chairman of Atlantic Crossing Productions, LLC, a former partner of Oppenheimer & Co., has held executive positions with various other investment firms and has been a successful money manager. Mr. Berk is a corporate finance specialist and during his considerable career has directed well over 100 underwriting private placements including a major underwriting of China Unicom. In addition he underwrote and helped restructure Iris International and handled the buyout of Avis Telemarketing.
Mr. Berk is a founding member of Financial Investment Analyst Associations, a member of the National Investment Bankers Association and the Executive Council of New York. He is on the Board of Directors of the Executive Forum of NYU Stern School of Business. He has held many roles in the entertainment industry: he has produced plays and has served as a member of the Board of the Actors Studio; was a founding Chairman of the Veterans Ensemble Theatre, a group of writers, directors, and actors who served in the Vietnam War; was on the Board of the Association of American Dance Companies and was a trustee of Manhattan Theatre Club. Mr. Berk has been referenced and quoted in numerous publications, including, but not limited to, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and South China Morning Post.
“I am very selective about the companies that I choose to be involved with. I have thoroughly and deeply researched RIRIC and it’s history, and both management and this project impress me. I feel privileged to be associated with this venture” said Mr. Berk.
Mr Berk’s extensive leadership experience in International capital markets on structuring, providing counsel and strategic planning services on a multitude of financing platforms is a welcome addition said RIRIC Chairman Manoj C. Benjamin. It will enhance RIRIC’s ability at a International and National level to attract and create innovative and alternative financial products to address India’s new emerging specialist and niche real estate capital market. In the process providing innovative financial solutions to meet the capital needs of RIRIC’s Integrated Smart -Green Township’s through out India.
RIRIC’s focus on building Integrated Smart Cities in India is capital intensive. India’s recently opened capital market remains underdeveloped with capital market products such as commercial mortgage-backed securities and listed property vehicles still almost entirely lacking with market transparency far behind that of European or US standards.
A report by KPMG, states by 2050, 900 million people will be added to Indian cities1. The rapid pace of urbanization owing to the rural–urban migration is putting a strain on the urban infrastructure in these cities. Deutsche Research says by 2030, India will need up to 12 million new housing units per year or 120 M per decade. Rapid population growth, rising incomes, decreasing household sizes, and a housing shortage of currently 20 million units show the need for extensive residential construction. The financing of residential owner-occupied housing in particular holds out enormous market potential.
The total stock of commercial property in India is estimated at over USD $300 bn. So far the invested market accounts for only USD $4 bn of this or 1.3%.”
About Royal Indian Raj International Corporation®
Royal Indian Raj International Corporation® (RIRIC), incorporated in Nevada, USA in March 1999 with offices in Vancouver, New York and Bangalore, India, maintains a country-specific, 5-sector heavy infrastructure orientation, focused on the free world’s largest emerging market: India. RIRIC’s goal is to develop the New India by modernizing housing and businesses and realizing self-sustaining cities of the future. RIRIC implements leading edge technologies and products in strategic alliance with world-class international corporations. Partnered with these international leaders in their respective fields, RIRIC is focused on five of India’s priority infrastructure sectors using a vertically integrated business strategy: Urban Infrastructure & Housing; Road Building & Recycling; Broadband Communications & IT Networks; eCommerce/IT & Education Appliances and Broadcast Content; Entertainment & Theme Parks.