Brookfield may invest $1.5 bn in Indian realty to compete with Blackstone

Canadian asset management firm raised $15 bn; might pump funds into commercial real estate in the country

Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management which raised $15 billion for global real estate last week, could put as much as 10 per cent of the funds raised in Indian real estate, said sources in the know.

“Past funds have gone as much as 10 per cent of their corpus in Indian real estate. So this fund could also hit that mark,” said sources.

Out of that money, Brookfield could put more money in Indian commercial properties and compete with its global rival Blackstone more aggressively, said sources in the know.

Brookfield has invested $3 billion in commercial properties and invested $450 million in residential properties here.

Brookfield declined to comment on the story.

In comparison, Blackstone has committed over $5 billion in Indian properties, mostly in IT parks and office properties. It is gearing up for the country’s first real estate investment trust or real estate investment trust (REIT) with its partner Embassy group of Bengaluru.

Brookfield invests in residential properties from its private equity funds and its real estate funds invests in commercial properties.
 

Brookfield has a commercial property portfolio of 25 million square feet, which includes the five million sq ft of commercial properties in Powai bought from Hiranandani family, the IT parks bought from Unitech group, Equinox Business Park bought from Essar group and so on.

“It is a great idea to put money in commercial properties given that there is huge demand for such properties and rents are going up. The supply is also limited,” said Shishir Baijal, chairman at Knight Frank India. 

On January 31, Brookfield announced the closing of its latest flagship global private real estate fund, Brookfield Strategic Real Estate Partners III (BSREP III), which is Brookfield’s largest private fund to date. So far, the Fund has made 10 investments around the world totalling more than $5 billion.

Globally, it has $171 billion of real estate assets under management (AUM). It owns 450 million sq ft of commercial real estate globally.

In total, Brookfield has over $330 billion in assets under management across real estate, renewable power, infrastructure, and private equity.

Brookfield in Indian realty

• Brookfield has put  $ 3 bn in commercial space, $ 450 mn in residential space

• Brookfield invests in residential estates through PE funds, in commercial through realty funds

• Brookfield has a commercial property portfolio of 25 mn sq ft

• Portfolio  includes the 5 mn sq ft of commercial properties in Powai, the IT parks bought from Unitech group, Equinox Business Park bought  from Essar group and so on

• Globally, it has $ 171 bn of real estate AUM; it owns 450 mn sq ft of commercial real estate