Pune-based KSH Infra Industrial Park Pvt. Ltd has agreed to sell 700,000 square feet of a 1.2 million sq ft under-development logistics park in the Chakan town of Maharashtra to a Singapore-based developer.
People close to the development told VCCircle that the acquisition took place for around $40 million (about Rs 300 crore at current exchange rates).
Avendus Capital, part of the KKR-backed Avendus Group, acted as the exclusive financial adviser on the transaction.
In a statement, KSH Infra said the investor had committed to buy the park at a pre-agreed valuation along with pre-defined technical specifications.
KSH Infra managing director Rohit Hegde said the transaction marked the company’s third deal in the industrial and warehousing segment. “With our superior execution and leasing capabilities, we have consistently been able to attract blue-chip companies as long-term tenants and high-quality financial institutions as investors,” he added.
Avendus Capital director Prateek Jhawar said the move was representative of the attractiveness of the Indian warehousing segment for foreign investors.
KSH Infra is part of the 40-year-old KSH Group, which has interests in business lines such as internal container depot manufacturing and third-party logistics. The company says it raised over $25 million in 2013 from the Pacific Century Group of Hong Kong to expand into the logistics business.
Currently, it has a portfolio of three million square feet that is in various stages of development. Last year, the company said it had sold a million sq ft of Grade A park units to the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund for over $45 million.
KSH Infra says that it is also looking to establish a pan-India presence with a footprint of over 10 million sq ft. It is currently evaluating markets such as Mumbai, Bengaluru and the National Capital Region (NCR).
The need for Grade A warehousing projects has increased significantly since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, panellists at a VCCircle digital event said on Friday. Measures such as the recently implemented tax reforms have helped drive growth for the segment, despite the headwinds being faced by the larger real estate sector.