Blackstone looks to sell office assets in Noida and Pune

Feelers had already been sent to major fund managers and real estate developers: Sources

The US-based fund manager Blackstone is looking to sell some of its office assets in Noida and Pune, sources in the know said.
 
Blackstone wants to exit Oxygen Boulevard and Galaxy IT Park in Noida, and BlueRidge special economic zone (SEZ) in Pune. Blackstone has appointed Morgan Stanley to find buyers for the properties, sources said. Morgan Stanley could not be reached for comments. “The properties are not part of its Indian joint ventures and do not form its core strategy,” said a source. Feelers had already been sent to major fund managers and real estate developers, the source said, adding that the valuation of assets was not known.
 
A spokesperson for Blackstone said, “As a matter of policy, Blackstone does not comment on such media/market speculations.”
 
Blackstone had bought Galaxy IT Park and BlueRidge SEZ from IDFC Alternatives in late 2014 for Rs 1,100 crore. Galaxy IT Park is located in Sector-62, the institutional area of Noida, and has an area of 1.36 million sq ft. It housed marquee tenants like TCS, CSC and Fiserv during the time of the deal. BlueRidge is a 1.5 million sq ft SEZ in Pune. The same year, Blackstone acquired Oxygen Boulevard, spread over 25 acres in Noida, from property developer 3C Group for Rs 625 crore. The 1.8 million sq ft SEZ is located on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway. The SEZ housed tenants such as United Health Group, Sapient, Dell and EXL at the time of the deal.
 

Source: VCCEdge

Blackstone’s plan to sell its office complexes comes at a time when two of its partners — Embassy and Panchshil — are gearing up for real estate investment trusts (REITs). Blackstone also holds a 15 per cent stake in the rental assets of K Raheja Corp, which could also tap this instrument, sources said. The Blackstone-Embassy venture will file draft red herring prospectus for its REIT by December and could raise $1 billion through it, reports said. Blackstone and its partners own over 70 million sq ft of office assets and are the largest office owners in the country. It owns 4.7 million sq ft of malls in the country, second only to Phoneix Mills.