GIC and Brookfield India REIT Sign Agreement to Acquire Two Commercial Properties in Powai and Gurugram

GIC & Brookfield India REIT to Acquire Two Commercial Properties in India

Mumbai: 

Brookfield India Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC have formed an equal partnership to acquire two large commercial properties totaling 6.5 million square feet from Brookfield Asset Management's private real estate funds. This is the first partnership between a publicly traded REIT and a global institutional investor in India.

The acquisition comprises commercial properties in Brookfield's Downtown Powai, Mumbai, and Candour TechSpace, Sector 48, Gurugram (G1), with a total enterprise value of approximately $1.4 billion.

This is our first joint venture with a public REIT in India, and it will enable us to expand our investments through this channel. Goh Chin Kiong, GIC's Deputy Chief Investment Officer of Real Estate, stated, "We look forward to adding value to these assets, which are well-located in key gateway cities."

The transaction will increase Brookfield India Real Estate Trust's gross asset value to $3.5 billion and net asset value to $2 billion. The acquisition substantially expands the Brookfield India REIT portfolio with a 35% increase in total rentable space and a 44% increase in operating space.

Both entities will establish a platform to acquire 6 million square feet of properties from Bookfield AMC's Funds. 

Kishore Gotety, Co-Head of Real Estate, Asia ex-China, GIC, stated, "We expect growth in the India office sector to continue, driven by an established IT industry, an increased focus by global corporations on digital adoption, and the availability of skilled talent."

According to him, these acquisitions demonstrate GIC's confidence in the India office sector and the Indian market as a whole, and will contribute to the global office portfolio's diversification.

Ankur Gupta, Brookfield's Managing Partner and Head of Real Estate for the APAC region, remarked.

According to him, this partnership strengthens Brookfield's global partnership with GIC in India and validates the quality of its portfolio in India.

Brookprop Management Services, the manager of the publicly traded REIT, plans to finance the acquisitions through an institutional placement of up to Rs 3,500 crore and may also contemplate preferential allotment of REIT units and other forms of fundraising.

Alok Aggarwal, CEO of Brookprop Management Services, stated: