Hindenburg Research allegations baseless and misleading, says Reit lobby

Says Sebi developments having market-wide benefits

The Indian Real Estate Investment Trusts (Reits) Association (IRA) has refuted Hindenburg’s allegations that the Reit framework serves the interests of a few. Through a statement, it called these allegations “baseless and misleading.”

The association stated that since the introduction of Reit regulations in 2014, India has established a strong and transparent regulatory framework that aligns with global best practices. This provides the highest levels of investor protection for both domestic and international institutional investors, as well as retail investors.

The industry lobby also recognised the significant interest and participation from prominent global institutional investors. It said their participation provides investors with a dependable and transparent avenue to engage in the country’s expanding real estate market.

The statement comes amid Hindenburg’s claims that the changes made by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in Reit regulations was to benefit global asset manager Blackstone where Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch’s husband Dhaval Buch is a senior advisor.

The couple have clarified that Dhaval is not associated with the real estate business at Blackstone.

Further, Blackstone is in the ‘recusal list’ of Puri Buch at Sebi.

Reits are companies that operate, own, or finance real estate properties that generate income by using funds from investors.

Currently, there are four listed Reits on the Indian stock exchanges, namely Brookfield India Real Estate Trust, Embassy Office Parks Reit, Mindspace Business Parks Reit, and Nexus Select Trust.

The collective value of assets under management (AUM) of these Reits is Rs 1.4 trillion, according to the IRA’s statement. Also, these Reits have distributed over Rs 18,000 crore to unit holders, with the market capitalisation of all the listed players touching Rs 80,000 crore.