In 2007, my home town paper, The Los Angeles Times and its parent were purchased by Chicago billionaire Samuel Zell. This year Zell has announced his entry into India. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Zell spoke of his foreign expansion into Colombia, Brazil and the subcontinent.

“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.