Will exercise first refusal on Hines stake in Gurugram property: DLF

Blackstone, Brookfield, Allianz make ₹2,000-crore bid for the property

Even as global investors – including US-based fund manager Blackstone, Canada-based Brookfield Asset Management, German investor Allianz — have bid for the One Horizon Center (OHC), DLF, which owns the property along with US-based investor Hines, has said it will exercise the right of first refusal (ROFR) on its partner’s stake.
 
Fairleaf Real Estate, the entity that owns OHC is a 50-50 joint venture between Hines and DLF group. The 814,169 square feet 25-storey property in Golf Course Extension in Gurugram is valued at around Rs 2,000 crore, said sources.
 
A Hines spokesperson said it is looking to exit and is in discussions with several investors. When asked about bids put in by various investors, the person said, “We are running a market process”.
 
Though sources said DLF is not exercising its right of first refusal (ROFR) on the sale of Hines’ stake, when contacted , Ashok Tyagi, whole-time director at DLF said: “We would like to reiterate that One Horizon Center is a key asset in our portfolio and while all parties can explore third-party options, we are very sure that DLF group will exercise its ROFR and/or other contractual options as per the JV agreement to buy off Hines stake in the JV at an appropriate time in an appropriate manner.”
 
While Blackstone and Brookfield plan to put it in their upcoming REITs (real estate investment trust) if they buy it, Allianz is bidding with its partner NPS under their $2.3 billion core assets fund, said sources.

 
In June, Allianz Real Estate raised its first-ever third-party real estate fund, securing capital from South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) to invest in core assets across Asia-Pacific. Last year, the Shapoorji-Allianz combine bought Waverock property in Hyderabad from GIC and investor Tishman Speyer for Rs 1,800 crore.
 
When contacted, Brookfield, Allianz, and Blackstone did not offer any comments.
 
Blackstone is the largest owner of offices, with a total area of 118 million sq ft and invested over $7 billion in properties. It has floated two REITs with its partners Embassy Developments and K Raheja Corp.
 
It also plans to float a REIT for retail properties it owns in the country. It has 6 million sq ft of retail properties.
 
Several large transactions have taken place this year in commercial properties despite the onslaught of Covid-19.
 
Recently, Embassy Office Parks bought Embassy Tech Village from its sponsors for $1.3 billion (Rs 9,782 crore). Brookfield bought select commercial assets of RMZ for over Rs 15,000 crore. Blackstone and Prestige are in the process of signing a Rs 9,160-crore deal.
 
Brookfield has also filed draft red herring prospectus for public issue of its REIT.