CPPIB pips Shapoorji-Allianz, InterGlobe for Hyderabad business park

Canada's largest pension fund manager, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) in Hyderabad has pipped Rahul Bhatia’s InterGlobe Real Estate and a Shapoorji Pallonji-Allianz combine to emerge as the highest bidder to buy a business park, owned by Singaporean Sovereign fund GIC and Tishman Speyer of the United States.

The deal is estimated at Rs 19 billion. Earlier reports said InterGlobe bid Rs 18 billion. That of Shapoorji-Allianz is not known the 2.3 million square feet WaveRock is based in Hyderabad’s Gachibowli financial district. The owners were expecting Rs 20 billion from the sale, reports said earlier.

Office space in WaveRock is leased to global companies such as Apple, Tata Consultancy Services, Accenture, GGK Technologies, Aveva Solutions Ltd, CapGemini, BirlaSoft and DuPont India.

A CPPIB spokesperson refused to comment. A mail sent to GIC did not elicit any response. Tishman Speyer could not be reached. Real estate consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is adviser for the deal. JLL could not be reached for comment.

Global private equity (PE) firms have done a number of mega deals in commercial real estate. Earlier CapitaLand, one of the largest investor-developer in Asia, emerged frontrunner to acquire the IT parks of the US-based PE firm Blackstone in Pune. The deal is estimated at Rs 22 billion. Ealier this year, Blackstone took 50 per cent stake in two subsidiaries of Indiabulls Real Estate for Rs 95 billion. GIC has bought stake in the rental arms of DLF and the Prestige Group of Bengaluru. Canada's Brookfield bought Essar's Equinox Business Park in Mumbai and was finalist for buying ICICI Bank's ICICI Towers in Hyderabad.

CPPIB has been stepping up presence in Indian real estate in the past couple of years. Last year, it invested around $1.2 billion in a joint venture (JV) with Indian developer IndoSpace to acquire and develop logistics facilities in the country. It also formed a strategic investment platform with Phoenix Mills to develop, own and operate retail-led mixed-use developments. It also has JVs with Shapoorji Pallonji to invest in office projects and with Piramal Group to provide funding for residential projects.

Last year, Germany-based Allianz partnered with Shapoorji Pallonji to set up a $500 million real estate fund to invest in commercial office properties in the country. The fund has identified Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Delhi-National Capital Region. The Rahul Bhatia-owned InterGlobe forayed into real estate through InterGlobe Real Estate Ventures in 2017. In February, the latter with Indiabulls Dual Advantage Commercial Assets Fund, acquired a commercial office tower in Gurugram from real estate fund Hines India.