Brigade Properties Pvt Ltd, a joint venture platform between Southern realtor Brigade Group and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, has entered into an agreement to acquire a land parcel in Chennai from Kansai Nerolac Paints for Rs 550 crore ($86 million), the company said on Monday.
The property is located at Perungudi on OMR, Chennai and measures 15.86 acres.
“The acquisition of the property would be done either directly by Brigade Properties or through its nominee or through a special purpose vehicle wherein Brigade Enterprises or its nominees and GIC Singapore through one of its affiliates would be the shareholders,” it said in a statement.
The deal is subject to legal due diligence.
This is the third acquisition under the platform since it was formed in September last year. It recently bought a SEZ property from Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) measuring 10.2 acres in Bangalore. The first project under the platform is Brigade Cosmopolis, a residential project in Bangalore by the developer.
The $247 million JV was created with the mandate to acquire land for residential and mixed use developments in cities reporting strong secular demand for high quality residential units.
Forging joint ventures has worked as an important way for some international investors to invest in Indian real estate. Canadian pension fund CPPIB has separate platforms for commercial and residential assets in India with Shapoorji Pallonji Group and Piramal Fund Management, respectively.
Under the commercial platform, it recently acquired an IT park in Chennai for $220 million.
Other investors exposed to Indian real estate through joint platforms or joint ventures include Goldman Sachs in collaboration with Nitesh Estates for commercial assets; APG Asset Management with The Xander Group for commercial properties.
On the back of the acquisition news, the scrip of Brigade Group rose to Rs 149, up 13.90 per cent at1.34 pm on Bombay Stock Exchange in a strong Mumbai market.
