Indian warehouse developer Indospace announced the final close of what it says is the largest-ever logistics fund targetting India this past week, having raised $580 million in equity for the fund managed by the joint venture between Singapore’s GLP and Mumbai-based Everstone.
In an announcement on December 13th, the India warehouse fund management and development platform announced the final close on its IndoSpace Logistic Parks III (ILP III) vehicle in a joint statement by India’s Everstone Group, GLP and US private equity real estate firm Realterm. The statement indicated that, after leverage, the vehicle would have $1.2 billion in funding available to pursue projects.
The announcement, comes three months after Indospace, has since begun identifying itself as a GLP joint venture, first announced a partnership with GLP for fund management as well as developing and operating logistics assets in India. Also this week, the partners announced an agreement to cooperate on logistics technology in India.
Celebrating a New Fund for More India Sheds
“The successful fund raise is a big endorsement of IndoSpace’s leadership in the industrial and logistics real estate space in India,” Sameer Sain, CEO of IndoSpace co-founder Everstone Group said in a statement. Without naming the fund’s backers, the partners indicated that ILP III had received investment from “leading global institutional investors.”
The September announcement of GLP’s partnership with IndoSpace said that the Singapore-based firm was becoming an investor in IndoSpace’s existing logistics joint venture with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for acquiring and developing logistics facilities in India.
In this latest release, the partners now indicate that GLP will work with IndoSpace to develop logistics parks in India as well as co‐invest in IndoSpace’s managed investment vehicles.
Adding to a 30-Asset India Portfolio
The close of ILP III takes IndoSpace’s total commitment to India projects to more than $3.2 billion, according to the statement, with the company saying that it will use the new funds to build out a pipeline of 120 million square feet (11.1 million square metres) of logistics projects. The Indospace did not give further details regarding the pipeline.
Including developed and under-construction projections, IndoSpace says it has a portfolio of around 30 million square feet of projects spread across 30 industrial and logistics parks in 9 cities.
Bringing Tech Together With Development
In addition to the new funding, Everstone and GLP announced plans to develop an innovation-based logistics “ecosystem” in India worth an estimated $500 million.
Everstone, which specialises in private equity real estate development in India, said it sees “significant opportunities” for leveraging technology in the Indian logistics market, including express delivery, smart trucks, telematics and robotics.
“The partnership will leverage GLP’s extensive expertise in pioneering modern logistics ecosystems and Everstone’s large and growing network through its private equity, infrastructure and real estate portfolio,” Everstone said in a statement on the deal earlier this week.
Everstone CEO Sameer Sain, who is also the co-founder of IndoSpace, said the latest deal would allow the two to use “each other’s strengths to create a unique technology-led logistics investment strategy in India.”
Ming Mei, GLP’s CEO, said his company was looking forward to “working closely with Everstone to establish a smart ecosystem that harnesses technology to accelerate growth, create value and drive returns.”
Indian Logistics Draws a Crowd
The Everstone-GLP deals follow a slew of similar foreign investments in India’s logistics sector.
In November, Allianz announced a $225 million joint-venture deal with Asian warehouse developer ESR to acquire facilities in India, while in June, Singapore’s Ascendas-Singbridge Group announced a $300 million investment deal with Temasek Holdings to develop a portfolio of as much as 15 million square feet (1.39 million square metres) of industrial projects in India in a bid to tap its transforming economy and population.
Warehouse builder e-Shang Redwood revealed plans in March to buy hundreds of acres of land in India for industrial and logistics parks, investing an initial $100 million, and Australia’s Logos Property teamed with local partner Assetz Property Group in August 2017 to build high-end warehouses across the country.
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