INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Mumbai: Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC is investing around Rs 430 crore in listed real estate developer Prestige Estates through a
preferential issue of equity shares.
GIC-managed investment firm Gamnat Pte will acquire 13.4 million equity shares of the Bengaluru-based
company at Rs 323.22 per share, Prestige said in a regulatory filing.
Prestige Estates has already approved the preferential issue to
Gamnat.
Last week, GIC had concluded its maiden exit from any of its Indian properties by selling stake in IT Special Economic Zone property
WaveRock in Hyderabad for around Rs 1,800 crore to Allianz Group’s joint venture entity with Shapoorji Pallonji Group
GIC had acquired 50% stake in Tishman Speyer’s WaveRock in 2015 at an enterprise valuation of Rs 1,000 crore.
ET’s email queries to GIC
and Prestige Estates remained unanswered as of press time Sunday.
GIC has been investing aggressively in Indian real estate sector and has
increased its activity in the market over the last few years
Last year, for instance, Gamnat had invested Rs 1,000 crore in the real estate arm of the Godrej Group to fund its growth plans.
Indian real
estate sector is witnessing a robust rise in investment inflow, given the ongoing transformation in business environment led by the reforms
undertaken by the government, with both foreign and domestic institutional investors pumping in more funds.
Global institutional investors,
including Blackstone Group, Brookfield Asset Management, GIC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Goldman Sachs and Qatar Investment
Authority, have been investing aggressively in Indian real estate assets over the past few years.
In addition to this, more funds are eyeing
investment and alliance opportunities in the backdrop of recent policy reforms
While these entities had earlier shown interest in investing in commercial real estate, they are ramping up their investment portfolios in
the backdrop of opening up of an avenue for monetisation through Real Estate Investment Trusts.