Chakan Industrial Estate in Pune (Image: Ivanhoe Cambridge)
APAC warehouse specialist Logos and Canadian investor Ivanhoe Cambridge have expanded their Chakan Industrial Estate in India’s Maharashtra state via a fresh land acquisition, with the longtime partners committing more than INR 11 billion ($130 million) to the development project.
The Logos India Logistics Venture anchored by Ivanhoe picked up 66 acres of land to boost the project site north of Pune to 143 acres (57.9 hectares), according to an announcement late last week. The purchase follows last May’s acquisition of 77 acres in Chakan, an automotive hub dubbed India’s “Motor City”.
The combined site will be developed into 3.7 million square feet (343,741 square metres) of gross leasable area in what the partners describe as the largest FDI-led integrated private industrial development in India.
“Pune is one of India’s key growth markets that is benefiting from the strong growth of onshoring as companies diversify their manufacturing location to India,” said Logos co‑CEO Trent Iliffe. “Maharashtra’s economy has consistently grown by 7 percent per annum over the past few years in line with this trend, and we expect this growth to continue as this market benefits from this shift in manufacturing.”
Scaling Up
Chakan Industrial Estate is the fifth project in India for Sydney-based Logos, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed ESR. The company’s developments in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR and Pune have a total potential area of more than 10 million square feet.
Logos co-CEO Trent Iliffe
The Logos Luhari Logistics Estate in the NCR is a similar size to the Chakan estate at 3.5 million square feet and has attracted several of the developer’s clients looking for the scale and benefits that an estate can provide, including on-site food and beverage, institutional estate management, landscaping and platinum-rated sustainability, Iliffe said.
“The scale of the Chakan Logistics Estate will also allow us to provide this range of offering while also ensuring we meet the Venture’s sustainability commitments,” he said. “We look forward to bringing our local and global experience in delivering large scale industrial development to this thriving industrial ecosystem.”
The new site acquisition further deepens Ivanhoe Cambridge’s presence in the Indian logistics sector, said Pallavi Bhargava, senior director for investments and asset management in Asia Pacific. The Montreal-based fund manager’s previous ventures in the space include a $1 billion industrial partnership with Indian development giant Lodha and fellow North American investor Bain Capital.
“Our extensive presence in this asset class and our local resources enable us to support the expansion of our logistics portfolio in the APAC region,” Bhargava said.
Steadfast Partners
Logos and Ivanhoe set up the $400 million Logos India Logistics Venture in 2017 to develop and own high-quality, modern industrial facilities in key markets of India.
The pair’s other partnerships include an $830 million China logistics venture alongside Denmark’s PFA Pension and a $484 million Southeast Asia warehouse platform with Toronto-based fund manager CPPIB.
Ivanhoe is reportedly selling down the direct stake it bought in Logos in 2015, while its parent, pension fund Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, continues to hold shares in ESR.
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