Embassy REIT to acquire business park in Bengaluru for Rs 9,782 crore

Embassy Office Parks REIT on Tuesday said it has agreed to acquire a large business park ‘Embassy TechVillage’ in Bengaluru from realty firm Embassy Group, Blackstone and some other investors for Rs 9,782.4 crore. Embassy REIT is the country’s first publicly-listed REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) sponsored by Blackstone and Embassy Group. It got listed on stock exchanges last year.

The proposed deal is subject to unitholders’ and regulatory approvals. The acquisition comprises 6.1 million sq ft (msf) of completed area, 3.1 msf of under-construction area, and two proposed 518-keys Hilton hotels. The acquisition will increase Embassy REIT’s commercial office portfolio by 28% to 42.4 msf.

Embassy REIT CEO Mike Holland said, “ETV is a unique large scale business park in the leading outer ring road sub-market of Bangalore, with a diversified blue-chip and predominantly multinational occupier base, including JP Morgan, Cisco, Sony and Flipkart. The acquisition further deepens our presence in Bangalore, which remains India’s strongest office market, and significantly enhances our scale and ability to deliver embedded growth”.

The REIT proposes to fund the acquisition by issuing equity of around Rs 6,000 crore through a combination of an institutional placement of about Rs 3,700 crore and a preferential issue of units to third-party selling shareholders of around Rs 2,300 crore. The REIT also plans to refinance existing Embassy Tech Village debt facilities of up to Rs 3,600 crore through a combination of equity and issuance of new coupon-bearing debt.