Allianz partners with Shapoorji Pallonji to invest in office market

Financial services group Allianz on Thursday partnered with Shapoorji Pallonji Group to establish SPREF II, a rupee-denominated closed-ended fund to invest in the office market in the country.

The Singapore-domiciled fund is targeting to raise $500 million (EUR 438 million) in equity.

It is Allianz's first real estate transaction in the country and was conducted by Allianz Real Estate, the real estate investment and asset manager within the Allianz Group, on behalf of several Allianz companies.

The fund will target six cities -- Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and National Capital Region (Delhi).

"We are looking to deploy approximately 60 per cent of our Asia-Pacific allocation to growth economies. India's strong secular growth, demographic trends, and improving transparency are supporting stable real estate occupiers as well as investor demand, in particular the office sector which is ideal for longterm core investors like Allianz," Allianz Real Estate chief executive officer (Asia-Pacific), Rushabh Desai, said in a statement here.

The fund's strategy in six tier I cities will be to build a long-term, cash flow producing office portfolio by acquiring a blend of develop-to-core, forward purchases, and stabilised or stabilising assets.

Allianz will own 50 per cent of the platform, and the remaining will be held by other long-term institutional investors.

"We view this partnership with Allianz as the first step in a relationship which will focus on creating long term value for the investors and will be supported by Shapoorji Pallonji Groups substantial credentials and experience in delivering and managing real estate assets across key markets in the country," Shapoorji Pallonji Group chairman Shapoor Mistry said.

Khaitan & Co, Ernst & Young, and Macquarie Capital Securities (India) acted as advisors to Allianz.

JLL, AZB, and PWC were advisors to Shapoorji Pallonji Group.