CAPITALAND India Trust (Clint) has completed the acquisition of an office building located in Navi Mumbai, India for 6.8 billion rupees (S$110 million).
This increases Clint’s total completed floor area by about 4 per cent to about 21.8 million square feet (sq ft), the manager said on Monday (Jul 22).
The acquired information technology non-special-economic-zone asset, Building Q2, is located at Aurum Q Parc business park. It has a net leasable area of about 820,000 sq ft and is fully leased to local and multinational companies, such as Mizuho Bank and Shriram Finance.
Building Q2, which is located near major IT campuses, is valued at about 7.5 billion rupees by an independent property valuer.
The transaction is expected to be fully funded by debt and internal resources, said Clint’s manager.
Sanjeev Dasgupta, chief executive officer of Clint Management, said the purchase of Building Q2 expands the trust’s portfolio in Navi Mumbai, which is a thriving hub for IT and related services.
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Following the acquisition, Clint’s portfolio presence in Mumbai will rise to 2.6 million sq ft from 1.8 million sq ft.
Dasgupta also noted “strong leasing interest and rental growth” in the asset. This came amid robust demand from multinational companies seeking a convenient base, as Aurum Q Parc is located near transport networks such as Ghansoli railway station and the upcoming international airport in Navi Mumbai.
“We will continue to capitalise on the growing demand for business parks and remain committed to delivering sustainable returns to our unitholders,” he said.
Additionally, some 300 million rupees will also be paid as deferred consideration to Aurum Ventures, subject to the achievement of pre-agreed business milestones, added the manager.
Building Q2 is the second of the two buildings that Clint acquired through a forward purchase agreement with Aurum Ventures, which was entered into in 2018.
As part of the deal, Clint subscribed to five billion rupees of 30-year secured debentures issued by the co-developer of two out of the four buildings in the Aurum IT Sez development in the Aurum Platz IT Park.
The trust then bought 100 per cent of the shares of the co-developer. This comprises two vehicles owned by privately held Aurum Platz, on a top-up basis for up to 9.3 billion rupees in total, based on certain leasing milestones or 24 months from the actual completion date, whichever is earlier. In 2023, Aurum Platz merged with Aurum Ventures.
The first building that Clint purchased through the agreement was completed in November 2021 and has a committed occupancy of 94 per cent.
Both assets add a total of 1.5 million sq ft to the company’s portfolio.
Units of Clint were trading up 1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.04 as at 9.11 am on Monday.
