Canadian alternative investment firm Brookfield is taking full control of four commercial properties in northern India after agreeing to buy joint venture partner Bharti Enterprises Ltd’s 50% stake.
Brookfield said Thursday its India-listed real estate investment trust (REIT) will acquire Bharti's stake in the properties. The Canadian group, through its private real estate fund, had bought a 50% stake in the assets in May last year.
The assets’ total enterprise value, which includes debt, is Rs 6,000 crore ($718.6 million) while the equity consideration is Rs 1,228 crore, Brookfield said in a statement. The Canadian firm said that it will issue 49.93 million units of Brookfield India Real Estate Trust to Bharti Enterprises, the parent of telecom operator Bharti Airtel, through a preferential allotment at Rs 300 apiece.
The transaction will make Bharti Enterprises the second-largest unitholder in the REIT with an ownership interest of 8.53%. Brookfield would own 40.16% of the REIT after the allotment while public unitholds would own 51.31%.
The REIT will have a right of first offer to acquire the 50% stake held by the Brookfield fund after April 2026 and consolidate to 100% ownership.
The four Grade-A assets include operating Worldmark assets at Aerocity New Delhi, Airtel Center and the Worldmark mixed-use property Gurugram, and Pavilion Mall in Ludhiana, Punjab. Cumulatively, the assets are spread across an area of 3.3 million square feet.
“With this transaction, Brookfield, through its two managed vehicles, will own 100% stake in the four marquee assets originally developed by Bharti Realty,” said Harjeet Kohli, joint managing director at Bharti Enterprises.
Bharti Realty, a subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises, also said it continues to have a large development pipeline with total area of more than 10 million square feet of Grade A commercial real estate assets in Aerocity, New Delhi.
Ankur Gupta, managing partner and head of real estate for Asia-Pacific region at Brookfield, said the acquisition makes Brookfield India REIT the “most diverse office REIT” in India. “These high-quality assets with strong tenancy also increase our retail operating area to 1 million square feet,” he said.
This is the second major acquisition by the REIT in a year. In May 2023, the REIT teamed up with Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC to acquire two commercial properties from Brookfield Asset Management Inc. for $1.4 billion.
Brookfield REIT’s portfolio currently consists of 25.5 million square feet of leasable area and 20.9 million square feet of operating area. About 0.6 million square feet of assets are under construction while 0.4 million square feet has potential for future development.