Blackstone JVs gear up for Reits; to file prospectus by December

Blackstone-Embassy group JV to file prospectus by September, and Blackstone-Panchshil by December

Two joint ventures (JV) of Blackstone in the real estate sector are looking to file prospectus for Real Estate Investment Trusts (Reits) by the end of this year, said sources.

The Blackstone-Embassy group JV is looking to file prospectus by September this year, while Blackstone-Panchshil is looking to file the same by December, sources said.

The Blackstone Embassy combine has filed for the registration of the trust with Sebi which is the second step after filing for intent papers, sources in the JV said.

“Since the Sebi and the government have resolved most of the contentious issues, we can go for it now,” the source said.

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India allowed commercial banks to invest in Reits following capital markets regulator Sebi and insurance regulator Irdai clearing decks for mutual funds and insurance companies to invest in Reits.

Panchshil has also started preliminary work on the matter and will file intent papers soon. said Atul Chordia, chairman of Panchshil Realty.

"We are doing some work on it. We will file intent papers by next month," he said.

Though Embassy group chairman Jitu Virvani earlier said it would raise $600 million (about Rs 3,868 crore), sources said decision has not been taken on the final corpus.

The Embassy Office Parks, the joint venture (JV) between Blackstone and Embassy, has an office portfolio of 35 million square feet, valued at $3 billion (about Rs 19,344 crore), Virvani had said. The JV has office properties such as Embassy Manyata, Embassy Tech Village and others. Morgan Stanley is the banker for both JVs on Reit issues.

The Blackstone-Panchshil JV has properties such as the iconic Express Towers in Mumbai, Eon Free Zone in Pune and others.

Panchshil has a portfolio of 11 million square feet, which is valued at over $1 billion (Rs 6,448 crore), sources said.

Blackstone’s southern assets are parked under the Embassy JV, and assets in west are grouped under Panchshil.