GIC to pick 40% stake in Prestige's Exora Business Park for Rs 26 bn

Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC has agreed to invest around Rs 26 billion in real estate firm Prestige Estates' subsidiary Exora Business Park for a consideration of up to 40 per cent stake.

The Bengaluru-based developer entered into a preliminary term sheet with GIC's subsidiary Reco Jade Ind (Reco) to sell a minority stake in its subsidiary, it said in a statement today.

"We intend to sell up to 40 per cent stake in Exora Business Park. We expect the deal to be completed in the next two-three months," group chief executive Venkat Narayana told PTI here today.

Exora Business Park owns, directly or indirectly, many operating and under-construction office properties of the developer. It has a portfolio of five projects with over 8.5 million sqft of development, of which 5.5 million sqft is completed and under- construction.

While four projects are located in Bengaluru, one is in Chennai.

When asked about the potential deal value, Narayana refused to disclose the details. However, investment banking sources said the enterprise value could be around Rs 65 billion. This means for the 40 per cent stake, the transaction value could be to the tune of Rs 26 billion.

With nearly 83.63 million sqft of completed projects and 142.4 million sqft under various stages of implementation, Prestige Estates is present in business verticles such as residential, commercial, retail, hospitality and services.

The company recently acquired CapitaLand's stake in various malls for Rs 3.42 billion. The acquisition portfolio included five ready and operating retail malls in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mangaluru, Mysuru and Udaipur, a mall management firm, operating Oakwood serviced residence at Bengaluru and under construction properties at Kochi.

It had also entered into a deal with HDFC Capital Advisors to create a Rs 25 billion platform to develop large scale mid-income and affordable housing projects across various locations.

Recently, GIC acquired 33.34 per cent stake in realty player DLF's rental arm for nearly Rs 90 billion.