Singapore's sovereign wealth fund to invest Rs 2,800 crore in Bhartiya Group’s Bengaluru project

Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC has agreed to invest Rs 2,800 crore in Bhartiya Group’s commercial project in Bengaluru, according to people aware of the deal.
The deal will see GIC pick up 3 million sq. ft. of commercial assets in Bhartiya City, a 125-acre township project, along with some revenue from its facility management business, the people cited earlier told ET, adding a "definite agreement between both parties was signed this week".

The Bhartiya Group will use the money to repay part of its debt, they said.

Bhartiya City’s commercial property has offices of some big firms like IBM and Infosys.

"The firm has a debt of over Rs 1,000 crore against the commercial development," said one of the persons cited earlier.

Email queries sent to GIC and the Bhartiya Group remained unanswered till as of press time.

CBRE was the advisor to the transaction.

GIC is the world's sixth largest sovereign wealth fund with $440 billion in assets under management. This would be its second large deal in south India this year. Together with the Brigade Group, the fund is also in the final stages of buying 5.5 acres of prime property from the TVS Group along Chennai's famous Mount Road (Anna Salai) in a deal worth over Rs 550 crore.

It had recently invested more than Rs 5,500 crore in Reliance Retail Ventures.

Private equity investments continue to be driven by foreign investors, whose pension and sovereign funds are betting on income-yielding assets in the office, retail and industrial sectors.

Global funds like Blackstone, Hines, Brookfield Asset Management, Ascendas, CPPIB, Mapletree, and Goldman Sachs are looking to expand their portfolios in India.

"Investments in India continue to increase in both development and operating assets. With the current business environment, India will benefit the most from the Asian economies with increased capital inflows, "said Piyush Gupta, managing director, capital markets & investment services, Colliers India. “The Indian real estate sector is likely to witness both equity and credit inflows tapped by existing and newer investment management platforms.”

Institutional investments in Indian real estate touched USD2.6 billion in H1 of 2022, a 14% increase from a year ago. Investors are enthused by the recovery seen across the Indian real estate spectrum after Covid-19-induced disruptions.

The inflows during H1 2022 were led by the offices sector, which accounted for about 48% of the total, followed by the retail sector with a share of 19%, said Colliers.