CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT) has entered into a forward purchase agreement with Casa Grande Group to acquire three industrial facilities with a total net leasable area of 0.79 million sq ft at OneHub Chennai, India, in a deal valued around Rs 268 crore (S$43.2 million1).
The deal includes CLINT’s partial funding for the lease of the project land and total funding for the development of the project. As part of the forward purchase arrangement, the fund will provide funding in three phases and subsequently acquire the facilities upon completion of the construction of each phase, subject to a stabilisation period of six months for leasing. The acquisition of Phase 1 is expected to be completed by the first half of 2025.
“The acquisition will further diversify CLINT’s portfolio and grow our industrial presence in Chennai, which is developing into an important hub for electronics component manufacturers in South India. It will also enable us to offer our tenants high-quality facilities at OneHub Chennai, an established industrial township with plug-and-play infrastructure. With our forward purchase agreements, we have a pipeline of industrial assets at strategic locations, allowing us to capitalise on the growing demand from global companies looking to set up industrial facilities in India,” said
Sanjeev Dasgupta, Chief Executive Officer of CapitaLand India Trust Management Pte. Ltd. (the Trustee-Manager of CLINT).
The recent deal follows CLINT’s earlier forward purchase transactions with Casa Grande Group for three industrial facilities at Mahindra World City, Chennai, an established industrial micro-market occupied by leading blue-chip companies.
CLINT completed the acquisition of its first industrial facility (Industrial Facility 1) on 27 May 2022. The 0.42 million sq ft facility has been fully leased to a leading international electronics manufacturer. On 19 December 2023, CLINT completed the second acquisition of two additional industrial facilities (Industrial Facilities 2 and 3), with a combined floor area of 0.33 million sq ft. Both facilities are fully leased to the same international electronics manufacturer and a global energy solutions provider.
The transaction offers CLINT further diversification into the industrial asset class and fits the Trustee-Manager’s strategy to invest in high-quality logistics and industrial assets. Jointly developed by CapitaLand Development, Mizuho Bank and JGC Corporation, OneHub Chennai is an approximately 1,250 acre integrated industrial park with established infrastructure. It is occupied by blue-chip companies including Hitachi Automotive Systems, Yamaha Music, and Daicel Corporation.
The transaction is expected to improve the earnings and distributions for Unitholders.With the proposed acquisition, the floor area of CLINT’s industrial, logistics and data centre asset classes as a percentage of its committed pipeline will increase approximately from 12% to 14%. CLINT’s total floor area under its committed pipeline will also increase by 2.6% from 30.1 million sq ft to 30.9 million sq ft.
CLINT’s portfolio in Chennai currently comprises two business parks (International Tech Park Chennai and CyberVale), three industrial facilities at Mahindra World City and a data centre under development in Ambattur which is expected to be completed in 2025.
Source: Economic Times