GIC Said Buying $200M Stake in Bangalore Office Portfolio

Singapore’s GIC may be adding $200 million in offices to its growing collection of Indian real estates assets, as the $100 billion sovereign wealth fund grows its $2 billion set of investments in the country’s property sector, according to an account in The Times of India.

GIC was reported to be acquiring a $200 million stake in the office division of top Indian developer Prestige Estates Projects. After the acquisition, GIC would control just over 40 percent in the Bangalore-centred portfolio of offices that provide five million square feet (464,515 square metres) of workspace to tenants including JP Morgan, Cisco and Microsoft.

Inquiries to GIC representatives by Mingtiandi requesting confirmation of the reported investment went unanswered at the time of publication.

Singapore-India Partnership Continues to Expand

The reported deal comes six months after the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund bought a 33.3 percent stake in DLF’s rental arm, DLF Cyber City Developers Limited (DCCDL), for 89 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) in August last year.

GIC, which according to its website has more than $100 billion in assets under management, is also planning a seven million square feet residential project in Delhi with DLF, as part of a 19.9 billion rupees ($309 million) investment in a pair of residential joint ventures formed with India’s biggest builder in 2015.

72-year-old DLF develops residential, commercial and retail properties across 24 cities in India. In 2016, it launched DLF Mall of India in northern India, the largest in the country with a gross leasable area of two million square feet (185,806 square metres). The seven-storey mall features over 330 brands including Gap, H&M and Levi’s.

GIC Investments In India Real Estate Already Over $2B

This week’s report of GIC’s office investment comes as the fund has gradually upped its Indian bets in recent years with the Singaporean giant reportedly having committed about $2 billion in the country’s real estate sector as of March 2017.

In December 2014, the fund set up two joint ventures with local developer Vatika Group to build two residential projects in Gurgaon, northern India. In the same month, GIC agreed to buy a controlling stake in Mumbai-based property firm Nirlon for approximately $200 million.

The Singaporean heavyweight is likely to bump into some of its biggest competitors in the south Asian giant as international funds crowd into India’s real estate sector. In December GIC was reported to be bidding against the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) to acquire Baring Private Equity Partners India’s stake in Indian commercial property developer RMZ Corp. Earlier in May, CPPIB invested $500 million in a joint venture with local developer IndoSpace to acquire and develop logistics facilities in India.