I n v e s t m e n t m a n a g e m e n t
Sponsor Pipeline
Acquisition of CyberVale
On 31 March 2015, a-iTrust completed the
acquisition of CyberVale from its sponsor,
Ascendas Group, for a purchase consideration
of INR 1.65 billion (S$35.9 million)
1
. CyberVale is
strategically located in Mahindra World City,
a 1,550 acres integrated business city in
Chennai. Mahindra World City is the closest
special economic zone to Oragadam, the car
manufacturing hub of Chennai. The property
comprises two operational buildings with 0.57
million sq ft, and vacant land that can yield a
0.37 million sq ft IT development. CyberVale has
a stable income profile with Renault-Nissan as its
anchor tenant.
Besides CyberVale, Ascendas Group has granted
a-iTrust with the Right Of First Refusals (“ROFR”)
to acquire income-producing properties from the
following entities:
• Ascendas Land International Pte. Ltd., which
holds International Tech Park Pune, an IT SEZ
in Pune with 0.66 million sq ft of completed
space and land with development potential of
1.61 million sq ft. Construction of Phase II has
commenced and is expected to add another
0.62 million sq ft of space.
• Ascendas India Development Trust, a real
estate fund that develops greenfield projects.
It has committed equity of S$500 million and
land in Gurgaon, Chennai and Coimbatore.
• Ascendas India Growth Programme (“AIGP”), a
real estate investment programme that targets
business space developments and pre-stabilised
completed business space assets. It has a target
asset size of S$600 million. The ROFR covers
Ascendas Group’s stake in the assets of AIGP.
1
Amount translated into Singapore dollars using spot exchange rate at the time of investment.
Third-Party Acquisitions
BlueRidge Phase II
The recent upturn in India’s economy coupled
with the election of a new reform-minded Indian
Government has rekindled institutional investors’
interest in the commercial real estate sector. With
growing competition for quality income-producing
assets, a-iTrust has adopted a different investment
strategy to leverage on our lower financing costs.
Unlike other office asset investors in India, we are
able to lower our financing costs by borrowing
Singapore dollar-denominated loans in Singapore
and swapping them into Indian Rupee loans. This
allows us to provide construction funding to vendors
to secure acquisition targets.
In December 2014, we agreed to acquire
BlueRidge Phase II, a 1.52 million sq ft IT SEZ in
Pune, an important hub for IT companies. The
property is currently under construction and is
expected to be completed by the second half
of 2015. It is located in Hinjewadi in Pune, the
preferred location for many top IT companies.
The acquisition of BlueRidge Phase II is structured
via a two-stage process:
• a-iTrust had first subscribed to Non-convertible
Debentures (“NCDs”) amounting to ₹
₹
2,600
million (S$54 million)
1
issued by the co-developer
of BlueRidge Phase II. The proceeds from
the NCDs will be used to fund the construction
of the property. The coupon on the NCDs is
higher than a-iTrust’s Indian Rupee-denominated
borrowing costs.
• Upon meeting the pre-specified property leasing
threshold of 90% or by 31 December 2016,
whichever is earlier, a-iTrust will proceed to
complete the acquisition of BlueRidge Phase II.
The acquisition price will be determined in
accordance with an agreed formula which
takes into account the rental, rental escalation,
and leasing level at the time of sale. The total
acquisition price is not expected to exceed
₹
6,404 million (S$133 million)
1
.
ASCENDAS india trust ANNUAL REPORT 2014/15
