Mapletree to buy 700,000 sq ft space in Pune logistics park for $40 mn

This is KSH Infra's second deal for the Pune facility after Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing picked up around 1 million sq ft of space for over $45 million last year

Singapore-based real estate development firm Mapletree has entered into an agreement with KSH Infra Industrial Park to acquire over 700,000 sq ft space in its logistics park in Pune for $40 million (around Rs 300 crore), according to sources.

This is KSH Infra's second deal for the Pune facility after Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, the real estate investment management arm of Morgan Stanley, picked up around 1 million sq ft of space for over $45 million last year.
 

"Mapletree has entered into a forward sale agreement with KSH Infra to pick up over 700,000 sq ft space in a logistics park in Chakan in Pune for $40 million," a source said.

This forms part of the 1.2 million sq ft of space which KSH is currently developing.

KSH Infra is a Pune-based warehousing and industrial logistics park developer.

"This transaction marks our third marquee deal in the industrial and warehousing space so far.Our aim going forward is to inspire more green development with a focus on building as per best in class green standards such as EDGE," KSH InfraManaging DirectorRohit Hegde said in a separate statement. However, the statement did not provide the deal size.

Avendus Capital, the investment banking arm of Avendus Group, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to KSH Infra.

According to a recent report by property consultant Knight Frank, private equity and debt deals in the warehousing sector declined in the January-March 2020 quarter to $57 million, compared to $1,508 million in the corresponding period last year.

"Even as the Covid pandemic has had an impact on the warehousing sector but it is relatively less as the segment will be supported by significant shift in supply chain management methods and renewed growth in e-commerce business," it said.

Another report by property consultant Savills India revised its projection for warehousing and logistics leasing to 30 million sq ft in 2020, from the previous estimate of 40 million sq ft.

Fresh supply is projected to reduce to 12 million sq ft from 45 million sq ft.

Hence, the total stock of warehousing and logistics space in India, which was previously estimated to be around 250 million sq ft in 2020, has been revised to 220 million sq ft for the year post the coronavirus crisis.

KSH Infra had raised over $25 million in 2013 from the Pacific Century Group of Hong Kong to expand into the logistics parks business.

"With our execution and leasing capabilities, we have consistently been able to attract blue-chip companies as long-term tenants and high-quality financial institutions as investors," Hegde added.

With a portfolio of 3 million sq ft under various stages of development, KSH plans to roll out a pan-India footprint. It is currently evaluating the markets of Mumbai, Bengaluru and the National Capital Region and plans to take its footprint to up to 10 million sq ft.

KSH is also present in sectors like internal container depot (ICD) and manufacturing.

Commenting on the transaction, Avendus Capital DirectorPrateek Jhawar said, "Over the last three years, the Indian logistics and warehousing sector has witnessed tremendous growth driven by structural changes, such as GST and rise of e-commerce. This has strongly attracted foreign investor capital."

"The market is currently highly fragmented and larger organised players suchas KSH will be the ones to attract this capital. This is the second transaction that we have advised the KSH group on, in this sector," he added.