InterGlobe Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, which owns India’s largest airline IndiGo, has bid around Rs1,800 crore for Hyderabad’s WaveRock office complex, two people aware of the development said.
A joint venture of Shapoorji Pallonji and Allianz Group, and Canada’s largest pension fund manager Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), are the other two top bidders for the property located in Hyderabad’s Gachibowli financial district, said one of the two people cited above on condition of anonymity.
The 2.5 million sq. ft property is jointly owned by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd and New York-based developer Tishman Speyer. The owners plan to sell the property for Rs2,000 crore, Mint reported in January.
Gachibowli financial district is a special economic zone (SEZ) promoted by the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corp. (TSIIC).
Real estate consultant Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL) is the adviser for the deal. A JLL spokesperson declined to comment.
Office space in WaveRock has been leased by global technology, industrial and services giants such as Apple Inc., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Accenture Plc, GGK Technologies, Aveva Solutions Ltd, Capgemini, BirlaSoft and DuPont India Pvt. Ltd.
Mails sent to spokespeople for GIC and Tishman Speyer did not elicit any response till press time.
Private sector lender ICICI Bank Ltd recently put one of its largest captive office buildings—ICICI Tower in Hyderabad—on the block, Mint reported last week.
Rahul Bhatia-owned InterGlobe makes investments in realty through InterGlobe Real Estate Ventures Pvt. Ltd (IGR). Launched in 2017, InterGlobe Real Estate Ventures manages the real estate portfolio and funds of the company.
By participating in a combination of greenfield, brownfield and ready assets pan-India, IGR intends to create one of the India’s leading real estate portfolios of quality yielding assets, according to a company website.
In February, InterGlobe Real Estate Ventures, along with Indiabulls Dual Advantage Commercial Assets Fund, acquired a commercial office tower in Gurugram from real estate firm Hines India Ltd.
“IGR is in the business of acquiring quality yielding commercial assets pan-India. We are currently managing a portfolio of 1 million sq. ft of commercial real estate and are looking to aggressively grow this number. We continue to look at various options available in the market, including in Hyderabad. IGR refuses to comment on its participation in the bid for this specific asset in Hyderabad,” said an InterGlobe Enterprises spokesperson.
Global insurance firm Allianz Group had partnered with Shapoorji Pallonji Group to set up a $500 million real estate fund—SPREF II—which will invest in commercial office properties in India in October last year. The fund has identified six target cities—Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Delhi-National Capital Region.
CPPIB has been stepping up presence in the Indian real estate space for a while. Last year, it had announced its plans to invest around $1.2 billion (Rs7,700 crore) in a joint venture with Indian developer IndoSpace to acquire and develop logistics facilities in the country while the pension fund also formed a strategic investment platform with Phoenix Mills Ltd (PML) to develop, own and operate retail-led mixed-use developments across India.
Spokespersons for CPPIB, Allianz and Shapoorji Pallonji declined to comment.
The office sector witnessed a massive jump in investments in 2017 to Rs13,200 crore from Rs4,000 crore in 2016.
Stability in the commercial office sector with strong momentum in leasing, stable returns on investments, as well as the potential to list income-yielding assets under real estate investment trusts, or REITs, have steered multiple investors towards office assets.
The year 2018 is also likely to see continued momentum and strong inflows into commercial office assets, said a January 2018 Cushman and Wakefield report.
Source: Mint