Hot REIT Market in India Draws Canada’s Brookfield in $522 Million IPO
Brookfield India Real Estate Trust, backed by Canadian asset manager Brookfield Asset Management Inc., is seeking to raise as much as $522 million in an Indian initial public offering, adding to the growing number of listings from the sector in the country.
Brookfield REIT is selling 138.2 million units to 138.5 million units at 274 rupees to 275 rupees each, according to terms of the deal obtained by Bloomberg News. It will take investor orders from Feb. 3 to Feb. 5 before a listing scheduled for Feb. 17, the terms show.
India has been seeking to attract more REIT IPOs in recent years by tweaking rules to make the vehicle more attractive for investors and developers. A number of property trusts have since gone public, including Blackstone Group Inc.-backed Mindspace Business Parks REIT last year and Embassy Office Parks REIT in 2019, the country’s first REIT IPO.
India’s property sector had suffered from a dearth of liquidity in recent years as a shadow banking crisis strangled access to credit. But housing demand has crept back up during the coronavirus pandemic, brightening the outlook for developers and lenders.
Brookfield, which manages $578 billion in assets globally, owns and operates about 22 million square feet of office properties in India, according to its website. It also operates toll roads, solar and wind assets, a construction business and real estate management services in the South Asian nation.
Brookfield REIT will use the funds raised in the IPO to partially or fully repay existing debt and general corporate purposes, the terms show.
Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc and Morgan Stanley are global coordinators and book running lead managers for the IPO.
Source: Bloomberg
