GLP Partners with CPPIB, IndoSpace to Enter India Logistics Market

Singapore’s GLP jointly announced a long-term partnership with India’s largest industrial real estate company, IndoSpace, on Monday, September 24th.

GLP will partner with IndoSpace across fund management as well as developing and operating logistics assets. It will also co-invest in its managed investment vehicles, including IndoSpace Core, a joint venture formed last year between the Indian logistics platform and Canada’s CPPIB. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

GLP’s entry into India’s logistics market comes as competitors are ramping up their presence in the market including e-Shang Redwood (ESR) and Logos Property.

GLP Buys into CPPIB-IndoSpace JV

The partnership includes GLP 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, according to the statement.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and IndoSpace agreed to establish IndoSpace Core in May last year, with CPPIB committing $500 million to acquire a significant majority stake in the vehicle which was established to acquire assets held by IndoSpace funds.

These funds include IndoSpace Logistics Parks I (which reached a $240 million final close in 2009); IndoSpace Logistics Parks II ($344 million in 2014) and IndoSpace Logistics Parks III ($550 million in 2018) a spokesperson for promoter Everstone confirmed.

IndoSpace Core is undergoing the acquisition of assets from funds I and II and has the option to acquire assets which are currently being developed.

Last year’s agreement included an option for CPPIB to invest an additional $700 million into the joint venture.

CPPIB Teams Up with GLP in One More Market

“This partnership … provides us with immediate scale to capitalize on the early growth stages of India’s rapidly modernizing logistics landscape and further expand our logistics ecosystem,” said GLP’s CEO Ming Mei in a joint statement.

IndoSpace currently has 12 million square feet of fully developed and stable leased assets, with another 20 million square feet in brownfield construction, as well as a pipeline of 30 million square feet in India according to the spokesperson. It operates 28 logistics/industrial parks across eight cities in India he said.

“IndoSpace plans to build a pipeline of 120 million square feet of modern logistics infrastructure,” according to the Everstone spokesperson.

IndoSpace is promoted by local private equity firm Everstone and North American real estate operator Realterm.

The GLP partnership teams the company with CPPIB in yet another major property market after the Canadian pension fund manager established a $2 billion Japan joint venture with the Singapore-based logistics developer in 2016. In 2015 CPPIB invested $350 million to acquire a 10.6 percent stake in a GLP portfolio of US logistics assets.

Separately, one of IndoSpace’s customers – DHL’s Blue Dart Express – plans to invest INR 200 crore ($27.68 million) to expand its reach to service the whole of India by the end of this year, according to media reports today.