CapitaLand India Trust to buy 1 mn sq ft IT park in B'luru for Rs 1,226 cr

CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT) has agreed to acquire 1 million square feet IT park in Bengaluru for Rs 1,226 crore.

CLINT has entered into a forward purchase agreement to acquire a 1 million square feet IT Park located at Outer Ring Road, Bengaluru. It will provide funding for the development of the project as part of the forward purchase arrangement, CapitaLand India Trust Management Pte. Ltd, the trustee manager, said in a statement.

The project comprises two buildings with an aggregate net leasable area of about 1.5 million square feet.

CLINT proposes to fund the development of the project and subsequently acquire a net leasable area of 1 million square feet. The remaining net leasable area of about 0.5 million sq ft will be retained by the landowners.

The landowners have appointed CapitaLand Services (India) Pvt Ltd to oversee the design, development and leasing of the project.

During the construction period, CLINT's investment in the construction of the project will be through debt and internal resources.

The total purchase price is expected to be Rs 1,226.1 crore, which includes the funding for the project.

Sanjeev Dasgupta, Chief Executive Officer of the trustee-manager, said, "The proposed acquisition will provide an opportunity to establish our presence in Outer Ring Road, India's largest office micro-market, which has demonstrated resilient performance during the COVID-19 pandemic."

As a result of the acquisition of one million square feet area, CLINT's portfolio size (inclusive of committed investment pipeline) will increase from about 28 million sq ft to 29 million sq ft.

CLINT, formerly known as Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust), was listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (SGX-ST) in August 2007 as the first Indian property trust in Asia. Its principal objective is to own income-producing real estate used primarily as business space in India.

Its portfolio includes eight IT business parks, one logistics park, one industrial facility and one data centre development in India, with total completed floor area of 15.5 million square feet spread across Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai.