Brookfield India REIT acquires 50% stake in Bharti Enterprises’ 4 marquee assets for ₹6,000 cr

Brookfield India Real Estate Trust (BIRET) will acquire a 50% stake in four Grade A assets from Bharti Enterprises (“Bharti”). The acquisition includes commercial properties totalling 3.3 million square feet, at an enterprise value of ₹6,000 crore. 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. Following this acquisition, 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 square feet, Airtel Centre, the state-of-the-art corporate facility of 700,000 square feet in North Gurugram, and Worldmark Gurugram, a mixed-use asset spanning over 700,000 square feet.

“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,” a statement said.

Ankur Gupta, managing partner, head of real estate for the Asia Pacific region, Brookfield, says, that with this acquisition, Brookfield has added New Delhi to 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 MD, Bharti Enterprises says with this transaction, Brookfield, through its two managed vehicles, will own a 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 meaningful ownership in their listed portfolio of high-quality assets.”

Bharti, he says, continues to invest in a large development pipeline of over 10 million square feet of Grade A commercial real estate assets in Aerocity, New Delhi.

Kotak Mahindra Capital Company acted as the financial advisor to BIRET. Khaitan & Co and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas represented BIRET as its legal counsel. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas represented Bharti as its legal counsel.

Brookfield India REIT claims to be India's only 100% institutionally managed office REIT, comprising six large integrated office parks located in key gateway markets of India – Mumbai, Gurugram, Noida, and Kolkata. The Brookfield India REIT portfolio consists of a 25.5M leasable area, comprising 20.9M of operating area.

Bharti Enterprises has interests in telecom, telecom infrastructure, insurance, hospitality & food, training & skill development, mobile internet, renewable energy & telecom & electronic devices. Bharti group's flagship arm Bharti Airtel Ltd’s net profit for the January-March quarter of FY24 slipped 31% year-on-year to ₹2,072 crore, compared with ₹3,006 crore in the year-ago period. For the full fiscal, profit fell 10.5% to ₹7,467 crore from ₹8,346 crore in FY23.

Revenue from operations rose 4.4% year-on-year to ₹37,599 crore during the fourth quarter, impacted by currency devaluation in Africa, particularly Nigerian Naira. Its India business posted quarterly revenues of ₹28,513 crore, up 12.9% backed by strong performance across the portfolio. The mobile average revenue per user (ARPU) increased to ₹209 in Q4 FY24 as against ₹193 in Q4 FY23, led by a sustained focus on acquiring quality customers and mix improvement.