Brookfield acquires 51% stake in four Bharti Enterprises' assets for ₹5,000 cr

Canada-based asset management firm Brookfield on Monday closed a deal to acquire a 51% stake in Bharti Enterprises' four commercial properties, including Worldmark Aerocity in Delhi, at an enterprise value of ₹5,000 crore.

As part of the deal, a Brookfield-managed private real estate fund now owns a 51% stake in this joint venture, while Bharti Enterprises continues with a 49% stake.

The properties include Worldmark Aerocity, Worldmark 65 and Airtel Center in Gurugram and Pavillion Mall in Ludhiana.

"This transaction with Brookfield for our marquee properties in North India is a significant milestone for us to partner with a global infrastructure investor with deep and rich experience and insights into real estate," said Harjeet Kohli, joint managing director, Bharti Enterprises.

Bharti Realty, the real estate arm of Bharti Enterprises, will continue to own and operate its remaining commercial assets, which include approximately 10 million square feet of upcoming development in Delhi Aerocity and will remain focused on developing premium quality commercial real estate development in key locations.

In India, Brookfield owns and operates over 50 million square feet of commercial real estate assets in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

"High-quality real estate in global gateway markets and in particular, the Indian office market, continue to witness high demand from occupiers. We look forward to leveraging our global expertise to build future-ready office environments in India," said Ankur Gupta, managing partner, head of Real Estate, APAC region and country head - India, Brookfield.

Worldmark Aerocity is a mixed-use property of 1.43 million sq ft in Delhi NCR with a diverse tenant roster comprising marquee financial services firms, global conglomerates and reputed government undertakings. Airtel Center is a 700,000 sq ft corporate facility located in North Gurgaon, and Worldmark 65 is another 7,00,000 sq ft newly built mixed-use asset in South Gurgaon.

Brookfield is a global alternative asset manager with approximately $690 billion of assets under management across real estate, infrastructure, renewable power and transition, private equity, and credit. Brookfield owns and operates long-life assets and businesses. The global asset management firm offers a range of alternative investment products to investors around the world—including public and private pension plans, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, insurance companies and private wealth investors.

According to Anarock, private equity investments in real estate have remained stable during FY23 as compared to FY22 at $4.2 billion. Between domestic and foreign funding, domestic investors have been significantly more active in FY23, with investment value increasing by 50% in FY23 ($0.9 billion) over FY22 ($0.6 billion). At the same time, foreign investors have seen their incremental investments decline by 7% to $3.2 billion in FY23, from $3.4 billion in FY22.