Brookfield’s REIT buys four key Bharti properties in Delhi-NCR

Brookfield India Real Estate Trust (BIRET) will acquire a 50% stake in four key assets from Bharti Enterprises in Delhi and Gurugram, the companies said. 

The acquisition includes marquee commercial properties totaling 3.3 million sq. ft at an enterprise value of about ₹6,000 crore ($719 million). 

The total equity consideration for the 50% stake will be fulfilled through a preferential allotment of units in BIRET to Bharti, at ₹300 per unit, according to binding agreements between BIRET and Bharti. 

Following this, Bharti will become the second largest unitholder in BIRET with an ownership stake of 8.53%.

The portfolio of assets includes operating Worldmark assets at Aerocity New Delhi, a mixed-use property covering 1.4 million sq. ft, Airtel Center, the state-of-the-art corporate facility of 700,000 sq. ft in North Gurugram, and Worldmark Gurugram, a mixed-use asset spanning over 700,000 sq. ft. 

“These assets are in established office micro-markets, with excellent connectivity, modern retail and F&B offerings that create a vibrant live-work-play environment,” BIRET, which claims to be India’s only 100% institutionally managed office REIT, said. 

Toronto-headquartered Brookfield is one of the world’s leading alternative asset managers with approximately US$925 billion of assets under management across real estate, infrastructure, renewable power, private equity and credit strategies and a global presence across more than 30 countries. 

An affiliate of Brookfield, BIRET comprises six large integrated office parks located in key gateway markets of India – Mumbai, Gurugram, Noida, and Kolkata- consisting of 25.5M sf of total leasable area, comprising 20.9M sf of operating area, 0.6M sf of under construction area and 4.0M sf of future development potential.

Ankur Gupta, Managing Partner, head of real estate for the Asia Pacific region, Brookfield, said, “We are pleased to extend our partnership with Bharti through this strategic venture making them a significant investor in BIRET. With this acquisition, we add New Delhi to our portfolio making BIRET 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.”

Harjeet Kohli, joint managing director, Bharti Enterprises, said, “With this transaction, Brookfield, through its two managed vehicles, will own 100% stake in the four marquee assets originally developed by Bharti Realty. With an over 8.5% stake in the REIT, Bharti is excited to take its partnership with Brookfield forward through a meaningful ownership in their listed portfolio of high quality assets.” 

Bharti also continues to invest substantially in a large development pipeline of over 10 million square feet of Grade A commercial real estate assets in Aerocity, New Delhi and hopes to grow this partnership through similar transactions,” Kohli said. 

Bharti Enterprises owns one of the largest telecom companies in India, Airtel, besides interests in areas such as space communications, digital infrastructure, financial services, real estate, hospitality, agri- processed foods, and manufacturing. 

Bharti Realty Limited, the real estate arm of Bharti Enterprises, owns, operates, develops and manages world-class commercial marquee assets.