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GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, acquired a 50 percent interest in a shopping mall located in the fringe of Mumbai for more than INR1,000 crore (S$203.35 million).
Known as Viviana Mall, the property situated in Thane has a gross leasable area of one million sq ft.
Aside from a multiplex with 14 screens, it features 19 large and mini anchor tenants and 150 iStores, including Zara, Forever 21, Shoppers Stop, as well as Marks & Spencer.
According to the report by the Business Standard, the mall is completely occupied, a sign of good shopper demand as most malls in India have a vacancy rate of 20 percent. Rents at the mall average at around INR150 per sq ft (S$3.05 per sq ft).
“Viviana is doing very good business and it is a good buy for GIC, since the mall will ensure steady rental income for it,” said an executive who knows about the deal who wants to remain anonymous.
He explained that GIC and the seller Sheth Corporation have been in talks over the last six months, and they have only agreed on the price recently.
The Singapore-based firm also beat other investors that wanted to purchase the mall such as Xander and Blackstone. But the developer didn’t want to divest its entire stake in the mall.
He added that GIC will likely hold Viviana Mall. They are unlikely to inject it into a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) as the company has perpetual capital. In contrast, investors like Blackstone use funds from third parties that need to be returned after some time.
Meanwhile, the fund also owns a 50 percent stake in Runwal Group’s R City Mall in Ghatkopar, which is among India’s best performing shopping malls.
With more than US$100 billion (S$135.45 billion) in assets in over 40 countries across the globe, GIC is one of the top 10 property investors in the world. In 2015, it purchased a 40 percent interest in five US malls as part of transactions collectively valued at US$5.4 billion (S$7.31 billion).
Just recently, Estate Gazette ranked GIC as one of Singapore’s third biggest real estate firms here, with total assets under management at US$22.4 billion.
Nikki De Guzman, Editor at CommercialGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email nikki@propertyguru.com.sg
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