Ascendas buys Vanenburg infotech Park

Business space provider and developer of IT parks Ascendas Pte Ltd has acquired Dutch technology major Vanenburg Group's stake in Vanenburg IT Park Pvt Ltd.

The value of the deal was not disclosed. Ernst & Young was the adviser to Vanenburg Group in managing the transaction. The project is Singapore-based Ascendas' second in Andhra Pradesh, following the development of Phase - I of Cyber Pearl, an IT park located in the Hitec city.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. The four-year old Vanenburg has three multi-tenanted buildings and have a gross floor area of 850,000 sq ft which, according to a press release, enjoys 95 per cent occupancy.

An estimated 7,000 employees work with a variety of IT and ITES companies housed within the IT park. Tenants of the park include global corporations such as Cognizant Technology Solutions, Computer Associates, SSA Global, Motorola and leading market-research company TNS.

The master plan of the park also allows for a fourth building which is in the process of development. The park is fully equipped with infrastructure and facilities such as sophisticated building management systems, 100 per cent emergency power back-up, central air-conditioning, modern fire protection system and security access cards programmed to meet customer requirements.

Jan Baan, chairman of Vanenburg Group, said: "We are pleased to have finalised this transaction with Ascendas. This deal would enable us to focus on our core business of building and selling enterprise software products."

S Ramanathan, managing director of Vanenburg IT Park, said, "The Vanenburg IT Park has grown to be one of the finest IT Parks in India. The business of technology parks in India is poised to grow significantly and we believe a strategic investor like Ascendas is better positioned to take this business forward and realise its full potential."