Ascendas India Trust has forward purchased an IT complex development in Pune, Maharashtra, as it grows its existing footprint in the Indian city.
The trust agreed to acquire the BlueRidge 3 project from Nalanda Shelter and Brickmix Developers for an undisclosed price, the company said in an announcement.
The project is an IT/ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services) special economic zone development offering as much as 167,225 sq.m. of net leasable area.
BlueRidge 3 (image: Ascendas India Trust)
The site is located in Hinjewadi Phase 1, a well-established IT cluster, and near the trust’s existing 139,889 sq.m. BlueRidge 2 complex.
“The proposed acquisition of BlueRidge 3, will strengthen our presence in Hinjewadi, one of Pune’s prominent IT/ITES SEZ micro-markets,” said Sanjeev Dasgupta, CEO of the trustee-manager.
“BlueRidge 3 is located in close proximity to BlueRidge 2 and would help our tenants to gain economies of scale and cater to their future expansion, while offering their employees a work-live-play environment within BlueRidge township which extends over 138 acres.”
A-iTrust will initially provide funding for debt repayments and construction costs, and will then finish its forward purchase acquisition when the asset has been completed and certain conditions have been met.
The trust’s committed portfolio size will grow by 7% to about 2,043,866 sq.m. (22m sq.ft.) following the deal.
A-iTrust focuses on the IT and logistics industries in India, with a portfolio comprising seven IT parks and six warehouses across Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai.
Its portfolio also includes the International Tech Park Bangalore, International Tech Park Chennai and CyberVale in Chennai and the Arshiya warehouses near Mumbai.
The trust was listed on the Singapore stock exchange in 2007 as the first Indian property trust in Asia.
The trust is sponsored by Singapore-listed property group Ascendas-Singbridge Group, which has more than S$20bn in assets under management.
Singapore-headquartered CapitaLand acquired Ascendas-Singbridge Group earlier this year in a landmark S$11bn deal, creating Asia’s largest diversified real estate group.