The acquisition of its industrial facility has a net leasable area of 0.42 million square feet
Ascendas Property Fund Trustee Private Limited, the Trustee-Manager of Ascendas India Trust or ‘a-iTrust’, announced on March 5, 2021, that it entered into a forward purchase agreement with the Casa Grande Group to acquire its very first industrial facility located at Mahindra World City, Chennai. According to a statement shared by the company, a-iTrust will also provide the funding for the development of the project as part of the forward purchase arrangement. The project is basically is an industrial facility with a net leasable area of approximately 0.42 million square feet. (Also Read: Ascendas India Trust To Acquire IT-SEZ Building From Phoenix Group For Rs 506 crore )
Additionally, the project is also fully pre-leased to Pegatron Technology India Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pegatron Corporation. Pegatron Corporation is a listed Taiwanese contract electronics manufacturer. Ascendas India Trust proposes to fund the balance development of the project and subsequently acquire the asset.
Upon completion of the project and as per the forward purchase agreement, Ascendas India Trust will purchase 100 per cent of the shares of the entity developing the project. The property trust also has the option to provide additional funding to develop the industrial facilities of approximately 0.37 million square feet, subject to the leasing milestones and few other conditions being met.
“The industrial segment has been resilient through the pandemic. The project also offers an opportunity to have a leading manufacturer like Pegatron within our tenant portfolio and support their expansion in India,” said Sanjeev Dasgupta, Chief Executive Officer of the Trustee-Manager.
According to the statement, Mahindra World City is an established industrial micro-market occupied by leading blue-chip companies including BMW, BASF, Fujitec, NCR Corporation, as well as B. Braun. Moreover, the construction of the project is ongoing and is expected to complete by mid of 2021. The project is also fully pre-committed to Pegatron, with a seven-year lock-in period and annual escalations.