Brookfield plans to sell two office complexes in India for over Rs 70 bn

Canada-based Brookfield Asset Management is looking to sell two of its office complexes in the country, said sources in the know.

One is a 3.6 million square feet (sq ft) property in Sector 21 of Gurugram and the second one is in Kolkata with an area of 3.1 million sq ft. 

Sources said that both the properties are part of Unitech Corporate Parks it bought in 2013.

Brookfield has a commercial property portfolio of 25 million sq ft and has appointed a leading US-based investment bank to sell the properties.

According to consultants, the Gurugram property is expected to fetch between Rs 40 billion and Rs 43 billion and the Kolkata one is expected to get a minimum between Rs 30 billion and Rs 34 billion, given the rents in the two areas.“They are in the business of selling and buying assets. Once life of funds get over, they exit their investments,” said the source.

Brookfield declined to comment on the plan.

Recently, Brookfield was in the news for its plans to buy four hotels of Hotel Leelaventure for Rs 45 billion, marking its entry into the hospitality sector. After US-based Blackstone, Brookfield has been one of the most aggressive investors in commercial properties in the country.

Since its first buyout of Unitech Corporate Parks in 2013, Brookfield has built a commercial property portfolio of 25 million sq ft and invested over $5 billion in Indian real estate.

It has bought the commercial portfolio of Hiranandani family in Powai for Rs 67 billion and Essar group’s Equinox Business Park for Rs 24 billion.

Brookfield is also aggressively investing in residential real estate in the country. 

The investor is looking to infuse $1 billion into residential properties initially, reports said this year.

So far, it has concluded around 11 transactions across different cities in India totaling $450 million. Last year, it invested Rs 8 billion in Bengaluru-based realty developer Total Environment Building Systems’ portfolio of five projects spread over 4.5 million sq ft, reports said. A handful of big ticket deals have taken place or are on the anvil in commercial real estate.

Singapore-based Mapletree Investments has bought SP Infocity, a Chennai-based IT park for Rs 24 billion. 

US-based Blackstone is in talks to buy One property in the Bandra-Kurla complex area of Mumbai and another commercial property owned by Adani group in the same area.

Blackstone is also buying commercial properties of Indiabulls in Gurugram. Blackstone, along with partner Embassy, has filed papers for the country’s first real estate investment trust and is expected to float the public issue next year.

BUSINESS IN INDIA

• Has a commercial property portfolio of 25 million sq ft
• Bought Unitech Corporate Parks in 2013
• Commercial portfolio of Hiranandani family in Powai bought for Rs 67 bn in 2016
• Bought Essar group's Equinox Business Park for Rs 24 bn in 2018
• Has invested over $500 mn in residential properties