Blackstone offloads 23.5% in Embassy REIT
Embassy Office Parks REIT is India’s first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) sponsored by Blackstone and Bengaluru-based realty firm Embassy group.
Representative image. (Reuters)
NEW DELHI: Global investment firm Blackstone on Wednesday sold its entire 23.5 per cent stake in Embassy Office Parks REIT for around Rs 7,100 crore, according to sources.
Embassy Office Parks REIT is India’s first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) sponsored by Blackstone and Bengaluru-based realty firm Embassy group.
Blackstone sold its stake in the entity at around Rs 316 per share through open market transactions and at this price, the deal is valued at about Rs 7,100 crore, the sources said. The selling price was at a discount. The company’s share declined 1 per cent to close at Rs 332.11 apiece on Wednesday.
The sources said some of the existing unit holders, including ADIA, participated in the block deals. SBI Mutual Fund was among the new investors, they added.
Embassy REIT got listed on stock exchanges in 2019 after raising around Rs 5,000 crore through the public issue.
Embassy Group has around 8 per cent stake in Embassy Office Parks REIT. Embassy Group CMD Jitu Virwani said, “we welcome the expansion of the REIT’s public float register to include more high-quality investors.’’ “We believe this transaction underscores the success of REITs in India and demonstrates how the world’s leading investors view the criticality of well-run, high-quality REITs such as Embassy REIT in their portfolios,’’ he added. The REIT’s investor base includes domestic mutual funds, insurers and foreign institutional investors, including sovereign wealth funds.
Embassy REIT CEO Aravind Maiya said the entity’s public shareholding continues to go up and has increased from 30 per cent at IPO to 92 per cent now. “We paved the way for REITs in India and the increased investor participation is heartening’’. Blackstone has sold its stake in many tranches.
